A new world and a new life just beginning
by Ginger1280
Summary: What if Lelouch didn't die? What if he was rescued and taken somewhere else by a former angel of death where he finds a new life and a new family? Rated T for language and occasional crude humor.
1. A strange awakening and confusion

Disclaimer:I don't own Lelouch or anything else that has to do with code Geass.

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A cold touch, a bright light.

"Am I finally dead?' he wondered to himself.

"Not quite, almost, but not quite. You're one lucky kid." came a voice.

Lelouch's eyes fluttered open and he saw a monster of a man in worn and faded brown trousers, a blue cotton shirt and suspenders and a doctors jacket.

The man was extremely tall and skinny with medium brown hair, flecked with grey, and rich hazel eyes behind a pair of fairly old, round, wire rimmed glasses.

"I'm not dead?" he managed to mutter in a harsh whisper.

"Nope."

"But……. I wanted to die."

"Suicide sends you to hell kid. Indirect suicide counts the same. You're just lucky an angel of light got to you first." the man said, checking his pulse.

"Come again?" said Lelouch confused.

"You were saved by a former angel of death." said the man. "I wasn't so lucky."

"What do you mean? You're standing right there." said Lelouch confused.

The man touched his face and Lelouch shivered. His hand was like ice.

"Feel that? I'm dead. I died nearly forty years ago." he said as if it was nothing. "Redemption for accidental suicide. I baby sit my older brothers who serve redemption for beating each other up all of the time."

"If you're dead, then…….."

"I'm half alive I suppose. I have a living counterpart and he gives me the chance to be a solid person instead of a ghost. Now sit still and let me see your eyes." said the man pulling out a tiny light and shining it in Lelouch's eyes.

"Hey! That's bright!" Lelouch protested shutting his eyes.

"I just want to make sure you don't have a concussion. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way." the man said sternly, gently tapping the top of Lelouch's head with the light.

Lelouch just sighed and opened his eyes, letting the man shine the light in them.

"There that wasn't too hard now was it?" the man said turning off the light.

"Were you a doctor when you were alive?" Lelouch asked looking at him.

"I was a Navy doctor for nearly twenty years until I retired. How does your stomach feel?"

Lelouch paused for a moment. "I don't feel anything." he admitted.

"Good, then the morphine's working." he said. "You're lucky, whatever went through you missed your spine by a hair. Quite literally."

"So…… where am I?" Lelouch finally asked, looking around the room which was just a simple bedroom with a desk in the corner, a nightstand beside him and light blue walls, illuminated by a setting sun.

"I can tell you that you're in a place that didn't exist where you came from. So in a way, where you're from, you're dead, here your life is just beginning."

"I don't follow." Lelouch admitted, starring at the man before him.

"Here, Britannia doesn't exist, never has, never will. According to your history, the colonists lost the Revolution of 1776 letting England turn all of North America into the Holy Britannian empire. Here the colonist won the revolution turning most of North America into the United States. Then there's Canada and Mexico. Or is Mexico Central America? I can never remember." he said shaking his head with a shrug.

"So Britannia never existed?" he said, shocked.

"Nope, and neither did you. Which is why you're safe here."

Lelouch tried to wrap his head around what he was being told. "Soo…..what? Are there alternate worlds?"

"Something like that I suppose." the man said. "I couldn't really tell you. That's a question you should ask Malachai. After all he shares a body with a former Britannian general."

"Who's Malachai?"

"The former angel of death that saved the life of you and a couple of your friends."

Just then the door opened and a slightly shorter, bulkier man with the same face as the doctor walked in wearing a very unfamiliar military uniform.

"I see our friend has finally decided to join us." said the man with a smile.

Lelouch looked at the man trying to soak in the subtle differences, like the icy white hair with blue flecks, and a strange periwinkle blue color in the eyes, along with the strange accent.

"How's he doing Ashtor?" the man asked the doctor.

"Decent considering what he went through."

"That's good to hear." said the new man with a nod. "So, from what I've heard your name is Lelouch, right?"

"Yes." he answered slowly.

"Well I'm Leon Berkenbridge. You'll be staying with me for a while."

Lelouch looked at the doctor curious for an introduction. But he never said anything, he just looked down at a clipboard that seemed to come from nowhere.

But as if sensing his curiosity Leon said, "This is Leon Ashtor. We just call him Ashtor."

"Oh, okay." Lelouch said, unsure of what else there was too say.

"I suggest we let him go back to sleep for a while." said Mr. Ashtor, the clipboard disappearing into thin air right before Lelouch's eyes. Then his doctors uniform changed into a dark blue uniform.

"Cracker jacks again Ashtor?" Leon asked with a smile.

"Well I'm sorry if my summer whites didn't fit as well as yours." said Ashtor with a tiny smile back. "Now come on, let's let the kid get some rest."

"Good idea. We'll come back to check on you in a little while, alright Lelouch?"

Lelouch just nodded then watched as the two men walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

"Where am I, and what the hell did I get myself into?" he sighed. Then he closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep.


	2. a late night conversation over JellO

Disclaimer:I don't own Lelouch or anyone else from Code Geass.

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When Lelouch finally woke up again he felt a slight twinge of pain in his stomach letting him know that the medicine was wearing off. He looked around to see that the room was dark now that the sun had finished setting and the only light was the faint glow of a nightlight beside his bed and the clock on the nightstand which read '10:05 P.M.'

Then there was a soft rustle beside him and Lelouch turned his head and jumped a bit when he saw a pair of eyes peeking over the edge of the bed at him.

"Hello there." he said kindly, realizing it was a small boy.

The child said nothing, instead he placed something on the bed beside him and pushed it towards him before he jumped up and scampered out of the room.

Lelouch starred after him for a moment before reaching over and picking up what the boy had left. After a moment, he realized it was a gelatin cup and a plastic spoon with a piece of paper taped to it. He held the paper up to the nightlight and saw, in a child's scrawl in blue crayon, "In case you get hungry."

He felt himself chuckle a little. "Well that was really nice of him." he said to himself with a smile. "While I never really cared for this stuff, I guess I can't be picky."

So he pulled himself up with a grimace as the pain in his stomach increased. But when he rested against the pillows he felt the pain begin to dissipate. Then he peeled off the foil lid and gratefully ate the apple flavored gelatin feeling much better as he set the empty cup and the spoon on the nightstand.

"I still don't get where here is." he muttered turning a little to try and see out the window.

But it was no use, all he could see outside was the darkness of the night.

So he just sighed and slowly laid back down and starred at the ceiling trying to make sense of what little he did know. But each time he tried to come up with options he just ended up lost with a dead end thought.

But he was so busy trying to think he never noticed that Leon had walked into the room.

"Confused are you?" he asked kindly, bringing Lelouch back to the real world.

Lelouch looked at him. "Where am I?" he asked curiously. "Mr. Ashtor only said that I'm in a place where Britannia doesn't exist."

"So he told you about the United States right?"

"Right."

"Well this is the state of California. La Jolla California to be exact which is by the southern tip on the coast. Actually, when it's light out, the ocean's quite literally right outside the window." he said walking around to a little desk and pulling the chair over by the bed where he sat down.

"Why am I here?"

"Dad figured you'd have an easier time recovering here than in a hospital or at his place with thirty kids running around everywhere. Here there's just the one and I noticed he came to pay you a visit." he said with a smile, picking up the empty gelatin cup.

"Yeah, I woke up and saw him peeking over the edge and when I said hello he just put the cup next to me then ran out of the room."

"That's Kit for you. He's very shy." said Leon with a laugh.

"Is he your brother?" Lelouch asked, noticing that Leon wasn't very old.

"No, he's my son."

"How old are you?"

"I just turned twenty. He's one of my father's rescued misfit children. Like I was. But when he realized Kit was having trouble getting along with the other children, he asked if I would take care of him since I'm pretty much settled."

"At twenty you're already settled?" said Lelouch in amazement.

"I graduated with my PhD a week before my birthday. I'm the youngest fighter pilot in world history and the youngest commanding officer. My father thought I was insane, but I already finished with my bachelors degree when I was thirteen, I got bored so I forged my paperwork and joined the Navy."

"And they didn't question your age?" Lelouch said curiously.

"I was already six foot two when I was thirteen and I never looked that young considering my hair was already going grey. They didn't find out until I turned eighteen. Then I admitted everything and by then it was too late for them to do anything because I was actually at a legal age. I've been flying for seven years now. Longer than my father has."

"Then your father's right, you are insane." Lelouch sighed, suddenly feeling stupid next to the true academic genius.

"I'd have to be to do the job I have." he shrugged.

"And I'm going to assume that your job is what cause your hair to go white."

"I don't think so. I don't know what made it go white." Leon admitted with a shrug. "As far as I know it never ran in the family I came from."

"Where are you from?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"I'm from the UK. Whales to be exact. I was on the street for a few years, then a really nice lady who owned a pub took me in and dad met me when I tried to steal his wallet because she was in the hospital and I went without food for a week."

"You tried to steal his wallet and he adopted you?'

"Dad's a strange character. He rescued you didn't he? After all, you were considered the 'Mad Emperor' weren't you?"

"I'm guessing he told you?" Lelouch sighed.

"Yes. Anyway, how are you feeling? Ashtor told me that the medicine should be wearing off a bit by now."

"It is." Lelouch admitted.

"Well then I better get you some more." said Leon standing up. "Would you like another Jell-O cup?"

Lelouch thought for a moment. "Actually, I kinda would." he admitted honestly.

Leon just chuckled. "Alright, then I'll be back in a few minutes."

Lelouch waited patiently until Leon returned with another gelatin cup.

"Here you go Lelouch." he said, handing it to him before sitting back down in the chair.

"How tall are you now?" Lelouch asked curiously as he opened the snack.

"Six feet ten inches tall."

"Damn that's tall. How big is Mr. Ashtor? He made you look small."

"Ashtor is a foot taller than me."

Lelouch starred. "The man's almost eight feet tall?" he said in awe the spoon still in his mouth.

"Kinda funny to think he's the baby brother of the three Ashtor brothers. Cameron and Travis are ten and eleven years older but they're each about a foot and a half shorter."

"I'm guessing they're dead too?"

"Redemption works in funny ways." said Leon. "You now serve a living redemption. This means you can make up for your past wrongs before you truly die. They have redemption after death which then gives them the option to return to the living. How that works I have yet to find out."

"Now I'm really confused."

"You're going to be confused for a while Lelouch. There's so much that you don't know about here."

"So I'm just here?"

"You've been adopted in a way." Leon shrugged. Then he smiled. "You're now my newest little brother."

"Newest? How many others are there?"

"About fifteen other brothers. The rest are sisters. Out of over thirty kids in the family though only three were born into it, Trowa, Jack, and Sebastian."

"That's somewhat sad when so many kids end up adopted." Lelouch admitted.

"That's why we call my father's home, Midnightstar Sanctuary. It's our sanctuary, our safe haven where no one can hurt us anymore."

"So then, I'm here because he thought I'd recover better?"

"Only Kit's here with me. Well…… there is Mitch, but he doesn't always come around others."

"Mitch? A family pet or something?"

"No, he's the ghost of a glider pilot that died about sixty years ago. He likes to play with Kit in the playroom and he's very overprotective of him."

"A….. ghost? A ghost huh? What's Mr. Ashtor then?"

"A half living soul."

Lelouch just starred before shaking his head. "You're confusing me." he sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"This family does that to people." said Leon standing up. Then he handed Lelouch a couple of pills and a bottle of water. "Here, take your medicine and go back to sleep. We'll talk more when I get home from work tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." said Lelouch taking the pain killers as he watched Leon put the chair back by the desk.

"Goodnight Lelouch."

"Goodnight." Lelouch said, then he watched as Leon closed the door behind him before laying back down and drifting off to sleep.


	3. A bright new friendship

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. But I do own the Ashtor brothers, the Berkenbridge brother's and the entire Midnightstar clan, and you can't have them! =)

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The next morning when Lelouch woke up he felt Mr. Ashtor's frigid touch on his wrist.

Sure enough when he opened his eyes there was Mr. Ashtor in his doctor's uniform again.

"Well good morning Lelouch." he said kindly. "You were so out of it I was able to change your bandages without you even stirring."

"What time is it?" Lelouch yawned.

"It's eight thirty in the morning." said Ashtor writing on the clipboard again.

"Only eight thirty? Did Leon already leave for work?"

"He left around five."

Lelouch starred. "That early?"

"That's what happens when you're military Lelouch." Mr. Ashtor shrugged. "Early mornings and late nights. So how are you feeling this morning?"

"Alright I suppose. Sleepy, and maybe a little hungry." he admitted.

"Alright, let me see what there is for you to eat. I don't trust you eating solid foods just yet."

"Then what did I eat last night?"

"I didn't know you ate last night." said Mr. Ashtor with a raised brow. "I didn't even know you woke up last night."

"That's because you were too busy arguing with Cameron." came a voice.

Lelouch jumped and let out a small yelp when a man in a green and khaki uniform appeared.

"And what do you think you're doing in here you obnoxious little imp?" Mr. Ashtor said with an affectionate smile.

"You said you didn't know he ate last night. Kit snuck him a Jell-O cup for in case he got hungry." the man said.

"Well at least it's not completely solid."

"It's half liquid, you can suck it through a straw remember?" said the man with a grin.

"Yes which I believe you know because you did that well into your twenties." said Mr. Ashtor accusingly.

Lelouch watched the way the two men interacted as he sat up slowly.

"Is he one of your brother's Mr. Ashtor?" Lelouch finally asked.

"This is my brother Travis. He's the only other one allowed here. Cameron's been banished from Leon's house for the time being."

"Why? Leon doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to do that."

"He's not normally." said Travis. "But Cameron's become……… is there a nice way to say it?"

"He's become a jackass, plain and simple." said Mr. Ashtor. "He's got a nasty attitude and while Travis has one of the foulest mouths around, at least he's learned to control it around the kids."

"Damn right I did." said Travis with a nod. "I don't know what the fuck his problem is anyway."

Mr. Ashtor shook his head with a sigh as Lelouch starred at the man.

"Anyway, let's go find the kid something to eat." said Mr. Ashtor trying to force Travis out of the room.

Lelouch starred in awe as he pushed Travis right through the door.

Then he opened the door and walked out himself.

A few seconds later Mr. Ashtor came back in carrying the little boy from the night before who was scrambling to get out of the man's grip.

"Here Kit, keep the kid some company." said Mr. Ashtor setting him in the middle of the room. Then he walked out.

And Kit made a mad dash for the door.

"Hey! Wait!" said Lelouch trying to stop him. "I just want to say hello, that's all."

Kit paused with his hand on the door knob.

"Thanks for the Jell-O cup last night Kit. I really appreciated it." he said kindly, not wanting to be left alone for a while.

Kit turned around then came to the bed where he hunched over and peeked over the edge in curiosity making Lelouch chuckle.

"Your dad said you're pretty shy."

Kit just nodded silently.

"How old are you?"

Six fingers were held over the edge of the bed.

"Can you talk?"

Kit nodded again.

"Will you please say something then?"

This time it was a shaking head in response.

"No? Why not?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

Kit opened his mouth as if he was going to say something then he paused and smiled shaking his head again.

So Lelouch sat trying to think of things to get Kit to talk.

"Do you like Jell-O cups?" he asked.

Kit nodded.

"Was the one you gave me one of yours?"

Kit nodded again.

"What's your favorite flavor?"

"Blue raspberry!" said Kit cheerfully his voice a squeakier version of his father's with the British accent included.

"Ha! I got you to talk!" Lelouch said with a laugh.

"No fair!" said Kit with a playful pout and a childish giggle.

"No fair? That was fair!" Lelouch laughed back.

Kit hopped up onto the bed and sat beside him.

"So, what's your name?" Kit asked curiously.

"I'm Lelouch."

"Le….le le what?"

"Lelouch."

"Can I just call you Uncle Louie?" Kit asked curiously.

"Sure, why not?" Lelouch shrugged. He had to admit that the boy's smile and laughter was quite infectious.

"It's easier to say. Like with Auntie Euphie!" Kit giggled.

Lelouch froze suddenly.

"Euphie?"

"Uh huh. Auntie Euphie. She said she came from the same world you did. Same with Auntie Shirley."

"They're both……… alive?"

"Yup yup! Grandpa saved 'em. Like he saved you! But they live with grandpa up in Oceanside like……. An hour away. But they come visit. Auntie Shirley and daddy are really close."

"Who's your favorite person in the family? Other than your daddy?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Tara! She's my age. And she's kinda cute." Kit admitted as his cheeks turned furiously red.

Lelouch chuckled.

"She's cute huh?"

"Yup. Did you ever like a girl?" Kit asked accusingly.

And that was the beginning to a very interesting conversation that made Lelouch turn bright red and got Kit to giggle and laugh uncontrollably.

It was also the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Now, for the record, the whole ghost and angel things....... they don't reflect my actual Religious beliefs, I just put them there to make the story interesting so please do not get offended by it! Just wanted to make that clear! Oh and Please R&R! -Ginger


	4. The comfort of family despite the flour

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass and the song used belongs to Matthew West.

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The rest of the day had gone by slowly and Lelouch had to admit that he was itching to get out of bed later in the evening if only to go explore and he had a feeling that Leon knew about it because there was a pair a jeans and a white tee-shirt on the desk.

So Lelouch slowly climbed out of the bed, his feet tentatively touching the floor before he decided he was stable enough to stand.

"I must've been out for a long time if I've healed enough to get up so easily." he muttered to himself before walking into the bathroom.

He starred at the reflection in the mirror. For a minute he thought it was a joke. He was wearing a shirt so big he was practically swimming in it as it reached past his boxers and down to his knees. His skin was paler than ever if that was even possible, and his hair………

"Who cut my hair?" he said running his hands through the short raven black spikes. His hair was now shorter than Suzaku's. "Oh well, it's not like it's not going to grow back." he sighed with a shrug.

After he finished in the bathroom he went over to the desk and put on the clothes before heading out of the room in his stocking feet.

"Geez this place is huge." Lelouch muttered trying to figure out which direction to walk down the hall. "I think I'll go right."

Down the hall he saw a door with a big colorful wooden sign that said, "Kit's room," then across the hall he saw Kit sitting amongst a variety of stuffed animals and toys.

And sitting in front of him was a young man in a green infantry uniform and combat boots as he and Kit played zoo together.

"I'm going to guess that was Mitch." Lelouch sighed to himself as he continued down the hall until he found the stairs where he caught a whiff of something cooking in the kitchen which quickly made him hungry since all Mr. Ashtor had given him was oatmeal for breakfast and Tomato soup for lunch. So he headed down to the kitchen where he found Leon balanced on one knee on the counter as he searched up in a cabinet for something he couldn't seem to find.

"Damn it, where'd that stupid jar go?!" Leon cursed.

"Ummm…… Leon?" asked Lelouch cautiously walking over to him.

But Leon had been caught by surprise and he slipped off the counter and onto the floor with a loud thud that shook the house, and he had taken several things with him including a bag of flour that spilled all over him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd fall that easy." said Lelouch taking the flour bag off of Leon's head. Suddenly he felt compelled to laugh.

"Don't even think about it." Leon said sternly, seeing the look on Lelouch's face.

"Look on the bright side, you can't tell that there's any in your hair." Lelouch said trying to stifle his laughter.

"Oh ha ha!" Leon muttered sarcastically as he stood up, wiping the flower off of his face.

Lelouch watched as he went around picking up the various items that had fallen on the floor. So he grabbed the broom he saw sitting beside the refrigerator and began sweeping up the flour.

"Hey Leon." he said suddenly, as the man returned to what was on the stove.

"Hmmm?"

"You didn't tell me that Shirley and Euphie were here." he said pausing and resting his hands and chin on the top of the broom handle.

"I didn't know that you knew them." said Leon as he poured something into the pot.

"Oh. So who's your favorite person in the family? I asked Kit, he said his favorite was Tara."

"It's between my twin brother Roderick and your friend Shirley." said Leon still not turning around.

"There's someone else that looks like you? Is he just as tall?"

"Roderick and I are identical except his hair is still brown."

"Oh. Okay. So why do you like Shirley so much?"

"In all honesty, it's because she's one of the first people to ever accept me, knowing everything about me." said Leon finally turning around to look at him. "There's a lot of things I don't like about myself. Hell I'll admit half the time I hate myself. But everything I hate about myself she thinks of a reason to like me for it."

Lelouch smiled. "Shirley's funny like that." he admitted.

"Euphie seems to do the same thing." said Leon pouring the contents of the pot into a baking dish.

"I seem to recall Suzaku telling me that she said she like everything about him including his clumsiness and the way he has trouble with cats." Lelouch said.

Leon chuckled. "Those two girls are truly something else." he said shaking his head. "So I heard you and Kit became good friends today."

"He's an interesting little guy, that's for sure." Lelouch said with a little nod and a smile.

"How'd you get him to talk? Even I couldn't get a word out of him for several days."

"I tricked him into telling me his favorite flavor of Jell-O."

Leon starred for a moment, then he laughed. "I wished it had been that simple when I first met Kit." he admitted putting the dish in the oven.

Lelouch continued talking with Leon in the kitchen until dinner was ready.

He had to admit, he finally felt somewhat human again as he sat at the dinner table, getting to know his new brother and nephew and to him it was almost humbling to help with the chores as Kit went to get ready for bed.

After he had finished the dishes Lelouch began to feel tired so he headed upstairs, but he paused when he noticed Kit's door was open and he watched as Leon tucked Kit into bed.

"Are you gonna sing tonight Daddy?" Kit asked.

"Do you want a song or a story tonight?" Leon asked kindly, sitting on the edge of Kit's bed.

Lelouch smiled, watching the young man act like a very mature and experienced father.

"A song!" said Kit with a smile.

"Alright a song it is."

Lelouch listened as Leon began to quietly sing to Kit.

_Take a look at the mountains _

_Stretching a mile high _

_Take a look at the ocean _

_Far as your eye can see_

_ And think of Me_

_ Take a look at the desert_

_ Do you feel like a grain of sand?_

_ I am with you wherever_

_ Where you go is where I am_

_ And I'm always thinking of you _

_Take a look around you_

_ I'm spelling it out one by one _

_I love you more than the sun_

_ And the stars_

_ that I taught how to shine_

_ You are mine, _

_and you shine for me too _

_I love you yesterday and today And tomorrow, _

_I'll say it again and again _

_I love you more _

_Just a face in the city_

_ Just a tear on a crowded street_

_ But you are one in a million_

_ And you belong to Me_

_ And I want you to know _

_That I'm not letting go_

_ Even when you come undone_

_ I love you more than the sun_

_ And the stars_

_ that I taught how to shine_

_ You are mine,_

_ and you shine for me too_

_ I love you yesterday and today And tomorrow, _

_I'll say it again and again I love you more _

_Shine for Me_

_ Shine for Me_

_ Shine on, _

_shine on_

_ Shine for Me _

Then Kit cheerfully joined in.

_I love you more than the sun And the stars that I taught how to shine You are mine, and you shine for me too I love you yesterday and today And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again _

_I love you more_

_Than the sun _

_and the stars that I taught how to shine_

_You are mine, and you shine for me too_

_I love you, yesterday and today_

_Through the joy and the pain _

_I'll say it again and again_

_I love you more_

_I love you more_

"There now Kit, you've had your song. Go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning." said Leon gently kissing the boy's forehead making him giggle.

"Goodnight daddy." said Kit hugging Leon around the neck.

Lelouch just smiled and headed into his room.

"I wish I had a father that loved me like that." he sighed to himself, remembering all of the years he spent without a parents love. "Kit's one lucky kid."

Without another word he quietly changed into a pair of pajamas before he climbed into the bed and drifted off to sleep.

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Okay. Chapter 4 is done. I'm actually doing pretty well with this one so far. ANd when I first created Leon and Kit the song "more" by Matthew West just seemed to fit perfectly, wouldn't you agree?


	5. morning curiosity and revelations

The next morning Lelouch was surprised to wake up in his room alone, the walls covered in shadows as the sun rose on the other side of the house.

"I wonder where Mr. Ashtor is." he mumbled with a yawn as he scratched the back of his head with one hand while pulling himself out from under his comforter with the other. He looked over at the clock just to see that it was barely seven in the morning.

"Why am I already up?" he sighed.

But after a moment he finally climbed out of the bed, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach as he walked towards the bathroom. Then he paused by the window as he saw a sight that he had yet to see in the two days he had been in the Berkenbridge home.

Just outside his window was the ocean, sparkling blue and orange as the sun began to shine on it's foamy waves.

Lelouch walked closer to the window as he starred in awe at the scene before him.

There were already several small sail boats and large yachts sailing miles out to sea on the horizon beside a gigantic Naval ship with a flat top, the numbers 68 on the island shining in the rising sun.

"Wow!" Lelouch whispered in awe, watching out the large bay windows. "It's beautiful out there!"

It was then that Lelouch noticed that the giant windows were really sliding glass doors that led to a balcony with a small padded porch swing on it. So he quickly changed before he decided to go out on the balcony.

As he looked down he noticed a small grassy yard that ended at a ledge with a pathway leading down to the beach where he saw Leon running alone in the sand.

Lelouch took a seat in the swing and starred out in the ocean. He suddenly felt a very calm peace come over him as he breathed in the breeze coming off the sea and listened to the soft sounds of the waves paired with the sea gulls.

"This place is wonderful." he said to himself as he gently rocked himself.

After a few more minutes he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"What are you doing up so early?"

Lelouch smiled up at Mr. Ashtor.

"I woke up early and dragged myself out of bed just because I figured I might as well, then I saw what was just outside my window." he admitted.

Mr. Ashtor smiled kindly at him before sitting beside him.

"It's a beautiful sight isn't it?" he asked.

"Absolutely." agreed Lelouch.

"I remember, when I was your age I lived with Cameron, after our mother died. He had bought this old plantation on a hill on the far end of Honolulu island. Away from everything else. Where all you could see were grassy hills and the ocean in the distance. I used to love sitting out on the balcony with a good book on a sunny day. There were times Cameron and Amy couldn't get me inside." he said with a chuckle. "I'd be too comfortable and too far into the book for them to reach me. Sometimes I drove my brother's up the walls when I did that."

Lelouch smiled at the look on Mr. Ashtor's face.

It was one of happiness as he recalled fond memories of years past.

"Did you used to read a lot?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"I still do. Leon always makes sure I have plenty to read because he knows how much I love a good book."

"What's your favorite?"

"Honestly, I'd have to pick the book 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown. Leon read it when he was in high school and after he bought it then I wanted to see what had interested him so much. Now granted, while I'm not always much on the conspiracies and what not, I still fell in love with the book. Just the complexity of it all, and the incredible attention to detail. It was one of the few books that kept me guessing till the end."

Lelouch couldn't help but smile at Mr. Ashtor's passion for a good story.

"What's the other one the kept you guessing?"

"'The Bourne Supremacy' by Robert Ludlum. That one actually got so complicated I gave up and never finished it. I still remember that I stopped on page 216."

"It got that complicated?" said Lelouch with a laugh.

"Yes. It's like….. You think you've got something figured out. In the beginning there's this guy that appears out of nowhere and murders a bunch of mafia members. So you're like, okay, this guy is definitely the bad guy, right? But no! There's another guy and after reading a bit further you start thinking he's the bad guy, but he's not!" said Mr. Ashtor getting worked up over the whole thing. "He's actually a good guy trying to catch the bad guy, so you go back to your original theory. Then you find out the guy was being controlled and you think 'okay, so this is the real bad guy.' But it's not! Because then out of nowhere there's this crazy guy who randomly kills some other guy and then you find out he's the real bad guy who's trying to throw all of Hong Kong into a bloody civil war and it took two hundred and thirteen pages of complete confusion that was never actually necessary in the FIRST PLACE! That's when I said 'screw that,' and I closed the book and walked away." he sighed.

"That sounds pretty crazy." Lelouch admitted, grinning at the way Mr. Ashtor went about describing the whole thing.

"Robert Ludlum is a true genius when it comes to complex plots. I know Leon somehow made sense of the whole thing, but out of Robert Ludlum's books 'The Bancroft Strategy,' became my favorite and it was one of those we found in a drug store bargain bin for three dollars."

Lelouch couldn't help but feel a connection with Mr. Ashtor through his love of a good book.

"So if I wanted to read a book which one would you suggest?" he asked.

"I would suggest 'Angels and Demons'. It's got the complexity without the needless mind-boggling confusion."

"What is it about?"

"That's something you'll have to read to figure out. In a way it's about the delicate balance between religion and science and the catholic church, but it also goes deeper than that which is why you'd really have to read it."

"So it's religious?"

"Yes………. And no." said Mr. Ashtor with a tiny nod then a tiny shake of the head. "It's really just a good thick plot that draws me. I have no interest in the religious part. I know where my head is and with whom my heart lies. I'm no Catholic, I've never been to church a day in my life except for my family's funerals. But I know God is there, and angels are real. Otherwise I'd never be where I am now. They say Malachai is a descendent of Gabriel himself, the next in line to help rule over archangel society as head of the high council."

Lelouch couldn't help but feel curious over the whole matter.

"So if he was next in line to be head of the high council, what is he doing here?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"They say the current high elder demoted him for fear of loosing his seat of power. He was demoted to an angel of mass death which meant he took care of the mess when the death toll reached the hundreds. He was assigned to all the souls of WWII."

"How many people died during the time?" Lelouch asked.

"Over fifty million in European front alone. But it's been estimated that there were near seventy million in the six or so years it went on. Because of it Malachai was given the title of Perdice Mortis nuntius by the other angels of death because he's taken the most souls of any of them."

"What does Perdice Mortis Nuntius mean?"

"It's Latin. It quite literally means 'Very worthy deadly messenger,' or something along those lines anyway. The Germans called him 'der Schatten des Todes,' 'The shadow of death.'"

"That's kinda creepy." Lelouch admitted with a shiver.

"Well what really made it strange was how methodical he was about the whole thing." Mr. Ashtor admitted with a strange look on his face. "He had records, paper, a book."

"A book?"

"He called it his book of souls and it's a record of every soul he's ever taken. I remember him summoning it when I died. It's quite fascinating really. It holds every name, the date they were born, the day they died, how they died, where they were sent, even pictures of each person."

"I don't even want to know how big that book is." Lelouch admitted.

"It's actually not as big as you'd expect. It's hard to describe."

"What did it look like?"

"It was this huge brown leather bound book that had to of been at least half a foot thick and on the front was the crest of blood that he was required to wear on his uniform by order of the head of the high council. Anyway, if you want to know anymore about that, you'd have to ask Malachai. Mind you the one that takes care of my brothers and I is Vivian Eveninglight, Malachai's most faithful subordinate. She's something like a probation officer of sorts, to make sure the three of us stay in line. She's the one that grants us our freedoms and such for good behavior, but she can also take them away."

"Freedoms? Like what?"

"Like how far we can wander away from our counterparts. When we first started our redemption we couldn't go very far. Not even into the next room. Now we're allowed more distance. Like Travis's counterpart is Leon's brother Trowa who's actually on the other side of the country. He just likes to hang around here more since Trowa got a girlfriend. But Cameron, he's had that freedom taken away because of how he's been acting lately. He's been restricted to the confines of Midnightstar Sanctuary for the time being."

"Why do you need counterparts?" Lelouch asked unsurely.

"Because we live through our counterparts. I live through Leon, but one of my rewards is solidity which means I'm practically alive. Which is why I can't go through walls but Travis can but why I can touch you or pick up an object. Of course there is a downside to the counterpart system."

"What's that?"

"If our counterpart dies, we loose the chance to live again and we die with them. So part of our redemption is to be protectors, guardians of sorts."

"And yet Leon is military? Isn't that kind of dangerous?" said Lelouch.

"Leon's one of the best pilots in the world. Not the kind to go down easy. Besides it's better than Travis's counterpart. Trowa's a CIA assassin."

"Ouch." said Lelouch with a wince. "That's worse."

"It most certainly is." agreed Mr. Ashtor.

After a quick moment of silence Lelouch asked, "How did we even get on this whole subject?"

Mr. Ashtor laughed a little.

"Good question. I think it started with a conversation about a good book than went on from there." he said with a smile as he stood up. "Now I say we go get some breakfast shall we?"

Lelouch smiled than stood up as well. "Breakfast sounds like a good idea." he agreed.

So the two headed downstairs for breakfast, leaving the conversation where they had ended it.


	6. the darker side of a loving family

After breakfast Lelouch felt strange as Leon seemed to disappear.

Kit was upstairs in his playroom with Mitch, but Leon was no where to be found and he hadn't left the house because his truck was in the garage.

"I wonder where Leon went." Lelouch thought aloud as he sat outside on the back porch.

"He's probably in his office." said Mr. Ashtor joining him with a cup of tea.

"I still didn't know that ghosts could eat." said Lelouch with a smile.

He had found it rather strange when Mr. Ashtor had sat at the table with them, eating a bowl of cereal as he read the morning paper.

"Even Travis, Cameron and Mitch can eat. You don't exactly need solidity for that."

"This place just gets stranger and stranger by the minute." Lelouch admitted as he leaned back in the chair and starred up at the clouds.

"Oh I'm sure. I still find it somewhat strange and I'm dead."

"That's my point. So where's Leon's office?"

"It's down the end of the upstairs hall. It's just a small room that makes up a third floor. But lately something's been troubling him." Mr. Ashtor admitted with a sigh. "When he first walked in the door last night he didn't seem too happy."

"Now that you mention it, when he was in the kitchen last night, he did seem kind of distant." Lelouch admitted thoughtfully.

"Maybe we should check on him." said Mr. Ashtor.

"I'll do it." said Lelouch standing up. Then he went inside.

Up the stairs and down at the end of the hallway he found another, much smaller set of stairs that were much higher and steeper than the regular ones.

So he headed up the stairs where he found a small hallway that led to a door and inside it sounded like Leon was arguing with someone.

Unsure if he should disturb the argument, he quietly knocked on the door. After no response he knocked just a little louder. Where there was still no answer Lelouch opened the door just a tiny bit and peeked inside to see Leon arguing with a man on a gigantic computer screen on the wall via web cam.

"Berkenbridge you're not coming to work tomorrow!" the man said sternly.

"But Captain! I can't just take a day off like that! I'm a commanding officer and it's not like my squadron can do a whole lot without me!" Leon argued back.

Lelouch was about to close the door and leave but what he heard next made him pause.

"After what happened yesterday Berkenbridge I want you off for the next two weeks on medical leave."

"Two weeks?! Captain you can't be serious! It was nothing!" Leon protested.

"Nothing? Nothing?! Berkenbridge you had a small heart attack and you were unconscious for five minutes! That's not nothing!"

Lelouch was surprised.

For someone so young to have a heart attack Lelouch knew he must have been pushing himself and he suddenly felt worry and fear for his new brother's health.

"I recovered just fine Captain."

The man sighed.

"Leon I'm asking you to do this as a friend, not just a commanding officer. You need to take the time off. I mean……. look at yourself! You're only twenty and you've already had a heart attack, you barely survived what would've normally been a fatal crash after that arresting wire snapped which is what caused your hair to go white, you're joints already pop and crack. You're body's acting like it's twice your age! You need to slow down, and take a break for a while."

"I'm fine Morgan." said Leon stubbornly, using the man's first name.

"Leon this isn't an option or a request. It's an order and if you don't take this time to take a break, see a doctor and rest, I'm going to make sure they admit you into the hospital and not let you out."

"You can't do that!"

"Try me! I can and I will. Now please. It's just two weeks, that's all I'm asking of you. Spend some time with your son. Go teach him how to fly a kite or something, take a road trip, just get away from here for a while. I don't care what you spend your two weeks doing as long as I don't see you on base and as long as you make a doctor's appointment and I expect to see the paper work from that too."

Leon just grumbled and growled.

"Please Leon? Please?"

"Alright." he finally agreed. "I guess I do need some time home."

"Good, I'm glad you agree. You just got back from deployment a month ago and you've spent half that month pushing your squadron and yourself when you should be getting a bit of a reprieve. Now the rest of the squadron are thankful for some time off as well. If I see you on base at all, I'll make sure I personally kick you off."

"Yes sir." sighed Leon.

"Good, then I'll see you on May 21st."

Lelouch quietly closed the door and was about to head back downstairs when Leon opened the door.

Leon starred for a moment. "Lelouch? What are you doing up here?" he asked.

"I uh….. Came to ask you a question but it sounded like you were busy so I was just going to head back downstairs." he said quickly.

"Uh huh," said Leon slowly, obviously not buying the lie. "What were you going to ask me then?"

"If I could borrow a book that Mr. Ashtor was telling me about it earlier." he said, remember the conversation he had with the older man earlier that morning.

"And what books was that?"

"I think it was called Angels and Demons."

"Alright then, you'll have to give me a few moment's to find it so come on in." said Leon walking back into his office.

Lelouch followed and felt like he had walked into a whole new world.

The room had to of stretched the entire span of the house and it was full of shelves. One whole half of the place was like a small library, the other half was more random with shelves covered with models and other knick knacks and what not. Closer to the door was a massive desk covered with stacks of papers, text books, binders, and writing utensils. Up on the wall was the massive computer screen plus several more in which several windows were opened. There was the whir of a large processor in the corner with the cords all leading to the screens and a glowing table.

"What is all of this?" Lelouch asked in awe.

"That's my computer." said Leon looking at several shelves.

"A little big for a home computer. Don't you think?"

"I use it for more than just the internet and such."

"How does it work?" Lelouch asked, looking down at the table to see a digital key board and more windows.

"It works like a basic touch screen computer only….. Bigger." said Leon.

After a moment of silence Lelouch finally voiced his concern.

"Hey Leon, are you okay?" he asked carefully.

"I'm fine." said Leon, "Why do you ask?"

"Mr. Ashtor was somewhat worried because he said you looked somewhat troubled when you came home last night, and it seemed to me like you were pretty distant. From what I've heard from Mr. Ashtor, Travis, and Kit, that's not really like you." said Lelouch looking at shelves full of pictures.

"I've had a lot on my mind lately." he said walking over to Lelouch with a book in his hands. "Here you go."

Lelouch took the book and smiled a little when he saw the worn out cover and bent pages. "Apparently it's really good if you and Mr. Ashtor have read it so many times."

"It's interesting enough." Leon said with a shrug.

Lelouch looked up and saw that Leon had the distant look on his face again.

"Do I need to get Shirley and Euphie over here to make you smile?" Lelouch asked jokingly.

"Please don't. As much as I love the two of them I can't handle them hassling me right now." Leon muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

Lelouch frowned. "I was just kidding."

But Leon said nothing. He just starred blankly at the wall.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. Thanks for the book." he said, then he left the room and went downstairs where he found Mr. Ashtor still on the porch.

"What's wrong Lelouch?" Mr. Ashtor asked.

"Leon's not doing so well Mr. Ashtor. I caught him in the middle of an argument with his Captain. I guess he had a small heart attack last night and he's supposed to be taking two weeks off for medical leave but he doesn't want to."

"I was afraid something like this would happen to him." Mr. Ashtor sighed. "He strives for perfection but he's at the point where you can't achieve anything more. So he pushes himself towards nothing. Intelligence is a double edged sword as I'm sure you know. He's twenty years old and he acts older than I do. I'm in my eighties."

"I'll admit you look pretty good for your eighties." he said with a tiny smile.

"That's because I'm dead."

"I know." he shrugged. "So Travis is in his nineties huh?"

"Yes."

"Yet he acts like a child?"

"He never got to grow up so I suppose he makes up for it in death. Anyway, I noticed Kit hasn't been able to cheer him up either and if he's getting that depressed we need to figure something out because last time he became like this, the results weren't very good."

"What happened?"

"He was twelve. At the time he was depressed over how different he was from even his own twin. There are very strange things about him. He's unnaturally strong, an unsurpassable genius, and he's quite large for his age. I didn't grow this tall until I was eighteen. He was already five and a half feet tall at age nine."

"Ouch. So what'd he do?"

"He ran away and he made sure I couldn't find him or get near him by blocking me out. We found him a few days later staying with a naval officer who found him freezing to death by one of the memorials in Washington D.C. which was when he was staying with family in the area. Some jerk threw him into the half frozen river in the dead of night during the winter. He managed to make it out but with no where to go I guess he sat against the Vietnam memorial until the man found him and took him in out of the cold. He was right on the edge of dying. I knew because I could feel myself fading with him. Leon's a good kid, but he never gives himself the chance to remember that he's just that."

"A kid." said Lelouch softly.

"Exactly. Leon's probably the one of the most troubled people in the family. One of the only one's that top him would be Malachai and Quatre themselves."

"The former angel of death……"

"And his counterpart. They share a body in redemption. Malachai did something during his time in WWII that got him in trouble, Quatre tried to commit suicide three times by the time he was thirteen because of an abusive father. His older brother committed suicide by jumping in front of a truck when he was twelve and his twin sister ran away leaving Quatre alone. Then his mother committed suicide when he was thirty."

"Wow, did suicide just run in the family or something? I'd be pretty troubled too if that were the case."

"I guess Quatre's father was just an extremely abusive man. Worse than my father and my father stabbed my mother to death when I was sixteen before trying to kill me too. He's why I ended up the way I did."

"Occasionally grumpy?"

"That and because of some brain damage my body didn't go through puberty until I was about twenty four. Imagine my voice at Kit's pitch. I was like that until I was twenty four. I grew taller as I went through high school. Other than that……."

Lelouch couldn't imagine a man as large as Mr. Ashtor with a voice as squeaky as Kit's.

"So I got put with the troubled brother huh?" Lelouch asked softly.

"Seems that way, through he's gotten much better about being happy. Especially with Kit and your friends around. That heart attack must've shaken him a bit to make him act this way."

"So what do we do?" Lelouch asked. "I know I've only known him for a couple of days but………. I still care about him. He has taken me in despite the fact that I was the 'mad emperor' of Britannia."

"Find a way to let him know you care. When he get's like this Kit avoids him which makes it worse and he won't let me near him. You're the only one that can get him out of this right now."

"Great, so it all rests on the new kid?"

"Seems that way." Mr. Ashtor shrugged. "Just take some time to think of something you have in common and see if you can get him to talk."

"I'll see what I can do." Lelouch shrugged. Then he got up and went into the house.


	7. Caring about big brother Leon

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. If I did, I wouldn't be posting these stories now would I?

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It was turning into a long day as Lelouch tried to think up ways to cheer Leon up. But it was no use.

Even when he tried to bring Leon lunch the only response he got was, "I'm kind of busy right now and I'm not very hungry anyway. Thank you though." through Leon's office door.

Finally he just gave up and went outside to play with Kit in the backyard.

"Hey Uncle Louie. I'm getting kind of worried about Daddy." said Kit as the two of them laid in the grass watching the sun set together.

"I know. But I don't know him well enough to be able to help him." Lelouch admitted.

"How come daddy's like this Uncle Louie?"

"I don't know Kit. I think he just had a rough night." Lelouch fibbed, not wanting to worry the boy.

"Maybe daddy will feel better if we make dinner for him." said Kit smiling.

"That might work." he shrugged.

Kit rolled over onto his stomach and rested his chin on his folded hands.

"Do you know how to cook uncle Louie?" he asked.

"I know enough I suppose." Lelouch shrugged.

"Good, cause I don't know how to cook at all."

"That's because you're not old enough to be using the stove by yourself." Lelouch laughed rolling over as well.

"I guess you're right." Kit pouted.

"If we're going to make dinner, we might want to figure out what we have to cook then." said Lelouch sitting up.

"I wonder if we can get daddy to help." said Kit.

"Maybe. But that's a big maybe."

"You can go get him."

"Wait? Why me? You're his son!" said Lelouch with a smile.

"Cause daddy scares me when he like this." said Kit sadly.

"Oh, alright, then I'll go talk to him I suppose." said Lelouch, feeling somewhat sorry for Kit. Then he stood up and headed upstairs to Leon's office.

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When he got upstairs he starred at the door for a moment. Then after a quiet knock he heard, "Not right now Lelouch, I'm busy."

Lelouch still opened the door a crack and peeked in to see Leon standing in front of his computer reading something.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked curiously.

"Because Ashtor knows better than disturb me and Kit doesn't like to." said Leon closing the window on the largest screen.

"That's because you scare him when you're like this."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because Kit flat out told me 'daddy scares me when he's like this.' He just wants you back to normal." said Lelouch opening the door the rest of the way.

"That's not very easy to do." sighed Leon turning around to look at him.

When Lelouch saw his brother's face he saw that he looked unusually tired.

"Why don't you stop pushing yourself for something you've already achieved?" said Lelouch, stepping out on a limb.

"Then what am I going to do for the rest of my life?" Leon muttered, sitting in his chair.

"Maybe strive to be the perfect father instead?" Lelouch suggested. "You're already one of the best pilots in the world, now why not try to be one of the best fathers? Right now you're not doing so good considering Kit won't even come near you."

Leon just sighed and slouched in his chair.

"Kit was wondering if you wanted to cheer up a bit and come help us make dinner." said Lelouch.

He still said nothing.

"I care Leon, you know that, right?" Lelouch asked.

"And why would you? You hardly know me."

"Because you've given me a new home and a place where I can feel human. Here I've been reminded that I'm just…….. A kid, and nothing more. Just like you should be. Anyway, think about it, we'll be downstairs." said Lelouch softly, then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

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After a while, Lelouch and Kit were in the kitchen going through some of Leon's recipes.

"How does anyone read any of these?" Lelouch muttered, picking up a recipe card covered in Leon's loopy, cursive handwriting.

"I don't know. What's that one?" Kit asked from his seat on the kitchen counter.

"I think it's a recipe for Chicken soup, but I can't read the ingredients." Lelouch sighed, scratching the top of his head.

"What's this one?" Kit asked, trying to read a card.

Lelouch took the card and starred. "I can't tell. I can't even read what it is."

"Well that one's not going to make a very good dinner I can assure you." came Leon's familiar voice.

Lelouch looked up to see Leon smiling over his shoulder.

"So you came to join us did you?" Lelouch asked as Leon picked Kit up off the counter in a hug.

"I had a long thought about what you said." Leon admitted. "And I realized you were right. It's time I focused more on this little guy here instead of work."

Kit giggled as Leon gently tickled him.

"So you're going to spend more time with me daddy?" Kit asked.

"I've got two weeks off Kit, we'll do whatever you want."

"Well right now I want dinner, I'm hungry."

"Alright then, we'll figure out dinner."

"So what's this one anyway?" Lelouch asked holding up the unreadable recipe card.

"It's my recipe for fried candy bars. That's why I said it won't make a very good dinner."

"Oh. I can't even read the thing. Your handwriting's terrible." said Lelouch with a smile.

"I know it is. What were you two looking for anyway?"

"Something simple. But we can't read any of them." said Lelouch.

"Well how about I make something quick then?"

"Like what?" Lelouch asked.

"You'll see." said Leon smiling.

Before long Kit and Lelouch were watching in awe as Leon took over the kitchen.

He worked methodically as he poured things into a pot muttering to himself.

"It's like someone put a cooking show on fast forward." Kit whispered, making Lelouch laugh.

"It's just that I know the whole recipe by heart. It's one my mother taught me when I was little and I hardly have to do any work to make it." said Leon with a chuckle.

"What are you making anyway daddy?" Kit asked.

"One of your favorites Kit."

"Toad in the hole?" Kit asked excitedly.

"Exactly."

Lelouch felt somewhat unsure about the food all of the sudden.

"What are we eating?" he asked unsurely.

"Don't let the name fool you Lelouch, it's nothing of the sort. It's fried sausages with Yorkshire pudding batter. It's a traditional British dish. As for where the name comes from I have absolutely no idea."

"Well at least there's no frogs." Lelouch sighed in relief.

"Eww! That'd be gross!" said Kit sticking his tongue out.

"I wouldn't be eating it then either, of that I can assure you." said Leon with a chuckle.

Dinner easily made it to the table in a timely fashion and Lelouch once again felt at peace with his new family as they shared cheerful conversations.

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Later that night, Lelouch sat out on his balcony, watching the light of a lighthouse shine just a few miles south of where they were.

"It's getting late Lelouch, you best get to bed." said Leon walking out onto the balcony.

"I know. I just wanted to sit outside for a little bit." Lelouch admitted.

"It's definitely calming out here isn't it?" said Leon sitting beside him.

"I feel very peaceful for the first time in a very long time. Here I miss my little family, but I know that the ones left are better off in the world without me."

"That's a good way of thinking about it." said Leon.

Lelouch starred as he stretched out his legs resting his huge feet on the balcony railing.

Which had to of been nearly four feet away from the chair.

"I wish I was as tall as you." Lelouch sighed.

"No you don't. Trust me. You can never find pants, you get scrunched up in the seat when you fly, and you trip over your own shoes. Provided you can find them big enough." said Leon with a lopsided grin. "I absolutely hate it. The only thing it's good for is scaring my subordinates into following their orders."

This time Lelouch laughed.

"That's an interesting way of thinking about it." he admitted.

"Most of the new guys, when they first come in, they don't want to listen to me because they're all older. Then they realize that I'm bigger, I'm stronger, and I can beat them into the ground in a heartbeat if they decide they want to see what happens when they piss me off."

"What kind of pilot are you anyway?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"A fighter pilot. I fly F-18 super hornets on an aircraft carrier."

"Interesting choice of a first job."

"Yeah, well, it was better than working at the local fast food joint, I can tell you that."

"But now you've got nothing left to achieve in your life. It's like…… when I actually became Emperor there wasn't much left for me to do because I wasn't intending to become emperor. So I united the entire world by making them hate me and think I'm a tyrant then I had Suzaku kill me. Though I guess my plan didn't work out entirely."

"Yeah but here you've now got a future ahead of you. Mind you here you might not make the history books."

"I don't think I want to." Lelouch admitted. "I'd rather just be…….. A normal kid. Something I never got to be."

"Good, because come August you're going back to school. You're at the age though when you'll be a senior. Any idea what your going to do when you finish?"

"I couldn't even decide before I came up with my revenge scheme back home. It was either continue school or join the workforce." he shrugged.

"Well there's quite a few more options out there in this world."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"My brother Roderick, my twin? He trains beluga whales."

Lelouch starred. "He trains whales? To do what?"

"Different tricks and behaviors. My mother Jamie, she's a killer whale trainer."

"I didn't know there was such a job." Lelouch admitted.

"There's plenty of interesting jobs here. I remember when I was little, the woman that took me in off the streets told me that there was more to life then office buildings and dead end jobs, all I had to do was find something interesting. I fell in love with flying so here I am. Of course it has taken it's toll on me, but I'm not giving it up. What about you? What did you love to do?"

Lelouch sat and thought for a moment, then he realized there wasn't anything.

"Other than spending time with my sister……… Nothing." he shrugged. "I mean…. I played chess, but I didn't really love it. It was more just gambling with the nobility and laughing when they lost. Kinda scary really. I did like spending time with my friends though I didn't always like what we were doing."

"That's sad. Oh well, you've got some time to think." said Leon standing up, ruffling Lelouch's hair. "Anyway, get to bed kid."

"Hey Leon?" Lelouch asked before Leon could walk back inside.

"Yes?"

"Who cut my hair?" he asked curiously.

"Ashtor did. There was a lot of dried blood in the back that we couldn't get out. Unfortunately all he knows is a military cut. The good news is, you were unconscious for a little over three weeks so it began growing back which is why it doesn't look too funny anymore."

Lelouch just blushed a little. "At least now I know why I'm almost healed."

"That too." agreed Leon. "Goodnight Lelouch."

"Goodnight Leon."

After Leon had left the room, Lelouch got up and decided it was late enough that he should get to sleep. So he quickly changed and turned off his light, pulling the comforter over his head before drifting off to sleep ending another interesting day in his new home.

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Ginger: And that's it for chapter three. It's going to start getting a little funnier now that the seriousness has been established. Anyway, thanks again to Digidreamer who keeps me going on this thing and now to one sided pancake who is also reviewing. I'm glad you two love Kit! He's an interesting little tyke, that's for sure, and he thanks you too!


	8. Early morning surprises and Roddy

Disclaimer: Don't own code geass ect. ect. ect.

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It was bright an early the next morning as the sun streamed into the bedroom through the lace curtains of Lelouch's bedroom, slowly waking him as he tried to hide underneath his blanket.

"Lulu! Lulu get up! Come on you lazy bum!" came a familiar voice.

"Not now Shirley, I'm tired." he mumbled sleepily. Then his eyes snapped open with realization and he sat up, ignoring the slight pain it caused. "Shirley?!"

Sure enough, standing before him was his dear red headed friend, her green eyes watching him closely.

"It's about time you woke up Lulu!" she said stubbornly.

"Shirley? What are you doing here?"

"Visiting Leon with Euphie. He wanted me to wake you up because we're taking Kit to the aquarium today."

"We…… we are?"

"Yes, now are you going to get out of bed and come with us or not?"

"I don't have any clothes to go anywhere." he admitted.

"Here." she said holding up a stack of clothes. "I picked them out at the store with dad last night. I figured it kinda suited your style."

Lelouch took the clothes then headed into the bathroom to change, yawning along the way.

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"Shirley? Are you sure these suit me?" Lelouch sighed, walking out of the bathroom.

"Yup." she said smiling from her spot on his bed.

Lelouch starred down at himself.

She had picked out a pair of slimming black jeans, a black shirt, a black silk vest, and a maroon tie, as well as black canvas sneakers.

"I think you took the black a little serious." he sighed.

"Well you were the leader of the black knights weren't you?"

"Was. That's the keyword here. I was. I'm not now."

"Well if you don't like it, change your vest."

Lelouch starred. "You brought another one?"

"Nope."

"Then how am I supposed to……"

"Sit and think about it turning into a different color." she said.

"Shirley that's ridiculous."

"Just do it."

Lelouch just sighed and thought about the vest being white.

"There see, it didn't……." he froze when he looked down. His vest was now white. "What the hell just happened?"

"It's Mr. Malachai's old vest from when he was younger. He said it changes colors and he thought you might like it to go with your outfit. It's a very special one."

Lelouch turned to look at the back just to spin around a little. "I guess after everything else that goes on here I shouldn't be too surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Shirley, you're sitting there in front of me and I saw you die months ago. I thought I died, instead I woke up to a half dead man taking care of me. I live in the house of a twenty year old genius fighter pilot, and his son who's best friend is a ghost that died sixty years ago, and this is all after a former angel of mass death rescued me. This place is weird."

"But it's home." shrugged Shirley.

"Yes, I'll give you that. It is turning into home."

"Well I'm glad you agree." she said jumping up and grabbing his hand. Then she tried to tug him out the door. "Now let's go!"

But Lelouch just pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad you're alive Shirley. After you died, everything just started going down hill for me." he admitted.

"Well now we can be friends again Lulu." she said smiling at him. "But are we going? I've been wanting to go to the aquarium for months now!"

"How'd you get here?" Lelouch asked.

"I uh…… I ended up in Leon's cabin while he was on deployment instead of at home and dad didn't have time to bring me home."

"ON deployment?"

"I spent two months on an aircraft carrier." she said. Then she turned bright red. "Sharing his bunk because they had no where else to put me."

"Interesting way to get to know each other. By the way, what are you wearing?" he asked tugging on the sleeve of the gigantic leather jacket that Shirley seemed to be swimming in.

"It's Leon's M-1 flight jacket. The one he puts all of his patches on."

"Why are you wearing it?"

"Because it's comfy." she said with a smile. "Now let's go!"

Lelouch finally let Shirley drag him downstairs where he was pounced on by Euphie in a big hug.

"Hi Euphie." he said.

"Hi Lelouch." she said smiling, "It's nice to see that you've joined the family."

"It's nice to see you alive. Maybe we should bring Suzaku to say hello sometime." he said with a smile.

"I'd like that." said Euphie with a nod.

"Well as nice as this reunion is are we ready to go?" asked Leon walking down the stairs with Kit who immediately jumped into Euphie's arms in a hug.

"I guess so." said Lelouch.

Kit giggled at him.

"What's so funny?" Lelouch asked.

"You look like you're going out on a date." Kit giggled.

"Blame your Auntie Shirley. I guess she picked them out last night." he shrugged.

Kit just giggled even more. "Are we going now daddy?" Kit asked.

"Yes Kit we're going now." said Leon as they all walked out the front door.

But suddenly Shirley and Euphie were giggling.

"What's gotten into the two of you?" Leon asked.

"Nothing." said Shirley, grinning broadly.

"Right." said Leon slowly.

They watched as he walked over to the open garage door before peeking around the corner and grabbing something.

Lelouch watched in curiosity as Leon pulled out a young man that looked much like him, only skinnier and with brown hair.

It was rather obvious the two were related.

"And who invited you Roddy?"

"I did." the man said with a matching British accent and a childish grin as Leon set him down.

"And who says I want you to come?"

"No one."

After a moment the young man jumped up tackling Leon and before long the two were jumping and tumbling, pouncing on each other like children.

"I'm going to assume that's Roderick." said Lelouch starring.

"The only one that can get Leon to act like a kid." said Euphie with a smile.

The play fight was over just as quickly as it had started when Leon grabbed Roderick, his hand wrapped around the man's leg just under the knee as he held him upside down.

"Hi Uncle Roddy!" Kit giggled, kneeling down in front of Roderick so they were face to face.

"Hey there Kit!" Roderick said smiling. "And how are you today?"

"I'm waiting for you and daddy to start behaving so we can go to the aquarium."

"Oh, alright. I suppose I better stop tackling him then, shouldn't I?"

"That might help." said Kit with a smile.

"Can you put me down now Leon? My head's beginning to spin."

Leon lowered Roderick down onto the pavement where he rolled over and stood up.

"That was mighty kind of you. Normally you just drop me face first." said Roderick, brushing himself off. "Are you feeling alright?"

In one swift move, Leon ducked down and kicked Roderick's feet out from under him, sending him flying backwards onto the ground.

"Does that answer your question Roddy?" Leon asked with a satisfied smile.

"I guess your feeling just fine." Roderick sighed standing.

"Wow, and I thought I had a strange relationship with my family?" Lelouch whispered, making Shirley giggle.

"Hello, hello? What's this? A new family member?" said Roderick curiously when he spotted Lelouch. "Who's the new kid Leon?"

"His name's Lelouch. Dad brought him here a few weeks ago."

"Here? Why isn't he at the Sanctuary?"

"Probably because you were there." said Leon grabbing him from behind and roughly ruffling his hair.

"Hey! Let go!" cried Roderick with a laugh. Then he tried to elbow Leon in the ribs, making him pause before shaking his hand like crazy. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" he cried. "What did you eat for breakfast? Rocks?"

"Oh ha ha." Leon muttered sarcastically.

"Are we gonna go now?" Kit asked impatiently.

"I suppose." said Leon. Then he looked at Roderick and sighed. "And I guess you can come along Roddy."

"You guess?"

"I don't trust leaving you here alone. We all remember what happened last time Ashtor had to baby sit you."

"I annoyed him to death?"

"You're the first person besides Travis and Cameron that ever made him say the F-word as every other word in a sentence." said Leon rolling his eyes.

"That was funny." Roderick laughed.

"Just get in the car Roddy." Leon sighed.

"Okay! I call shotgun!" he laughed. Then he ran into the garage, the others following him.

"He strikes me as being your opposite." Lelouch said, walking with Leon towards the garage.

"Attitude wise yes. It's like Mr. Malachai and his brother Nicolai. You're comparing dark and light, day and night."

"You're the dark and he's the light?" suggested Lelouch.

"Roddy always has been unusually cheerful. Sometime he's so cheerful it scares me." Leon admitted. "There are times I try and hate him, and times I act like it too. But he knows how much I love him so he just shrugs it all off and continues messing with me anyway until he gets me to smile and admit that he'll always be my twin brother and that I'm stuck with him for life."

Lelouch saw the affectionate smile that Leon had and smiled himself.

"That's a good thing." Lelouch said. "Sometimes we need the insanity of friends and family to keep us sane."

"Exactly." said Leon smiling. "Which is what makes our family so special. It's all enough to drive you insane but it's what keeps you going in life. Always remember that Lelouch."

"Promise." said Lelouch smiling.

"Good now let's get going before Kit get's anymore impatient."

"Good idea." said Lelouch smiling, then he climbed into the truck beside Shirley and they were soon heading to the aquarium.

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Ginger: Chapter 8 now finished! I'm on a roll with this story!


	9. Cuttlefish and commonalities

Disclaimer: the usual, don't own code geass, what not, yada, yada, yada.

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Orange. It was orange. Possibly the brightest orange he had ever seen, short of Shirley's bright orange hair.

And it was starring at him, just as he was starring at it.

"Are you having a staring contest with a fish Lelouch?" came the familiar British voice, breaking him out of his reverie.

Lelouch looked up at Leon to see him smiling kindly at him.

"What is it?" Lelouch asked, suddenly feeling full of childish curiosity.

"It's an orange Garibaldi."

"Orange is right." he muttered. "That thing is bright and he looks kind of funny."

"Yes well how do you know that he's not looking at you and thinking you look rather funny yourself?" Leon asked kindly.

Lelouch said nothing, he just shrugged as he continued looking at the fish.

"Or maybe it's a girl fish and she finds you somewhat cute."

Lelouch suddenly turned red. "That's awkward." he grumbled, making Leon chuckle at him.

"Well at least you're acting human Lulu!" Shirley giggled, pouncing on his back.

"I'm acting childish." he admitted with a sigh.

"There's nothing wrong with that." she told him. "At least your not acting like Roderick over there."

Lelouch turned to see Roderick standing with Kit making faces at several fish that were sitting and watching them.

"Good point." he admitted. "Why is Roderick so childish anyway?"

"I think it's because his father made sure he had a sense of humor." Leon admitted. "Considering Mr. Spencer was a part time comedian anyway."

"Or maybe it's just to balance the two of you out." said Shirley. "Think about it. You're grouchy and dark, and he's cheery and happy."

"Day and night, my point exactly." said Leon with a smile.

Lelouch just smiled as he walked over to another tank and searched for another fish, leaving Shirley engaging Leon in a friendly banter.

"What is _this_?" he wondered starring at the strange slimy looking creature.

It couldn't be an octopus, it didn't have eight legs, but it had several strange tentacles in front of his face and strange little skirt like bit around it as it swam up to the glass.

"Well aren't you the strangest little thing?" Lelouch said watching it in awe as it changed from a near opaque white to a vibrant purplish color.

"It's a cuttlefish Uncle Louie!" said Kit, hopping around beside him.

"A cuddle fish?"

"Not Cuddle! Cuttle!" Kit giggled.

"Oh. I was going to say, he doesn't look very cuddly."

"I like cuttlefish! My Uncle Jake has a whole bunch at home! He catches them when he goes diving overseas!"

"Why would he do that?"

"Cause he thinks they're cool." said Kit.

"They're something else, that's for sure." Lelouch admitted.

"He's like you Uncle Louie!" Kit said grinning.

Lelouch starred. "I'm not a slimy sea creature Kit." he said.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Kit giggled. "He's like you cause he's really different, but he blends in with what's around him. Like you're really different from some of the others, but you blend in with the family anyway."

Lelouch couldn't help but smile a little. "That's interesting Kit. I never thought of it that way." he admitted.

Kit just giggled some more before he ran off to go look at another tank.

But Lelouch stayed behind watching his aquatic counterpart.

"I guess we do have a bit in common don't we little guy?" he shrugged with a smile. "You hide behind your color, I hid behind a mask, yet we still blend in with our surroundings."

He paused, then shook his head with a sigh.

"I'm talking to something that looks like it's related to a squid. What's gotten into me?" he mumbled. Then he looked at the cuttlefish again.

The cuttlefish just fanned out it's tentacles as it watched Lelouch with almost as much curiosity as he had watching it.

"I think it likes you." Euphie giggled.

Lelouch jumped a bit, not even realizing she was there.

"And why would it like me?" he asked her.

"I don't know. Maybe there's just a special connection between the two of you." she shrugged.

"Yeah, with my luck it will be a connection like the one Suzaku had with Arthur." he said with a tiny smile.

"Oh Suzaku just has trouble with cats."

"He told me that you once said you liked the way he had trouble with cats."

Euphie blushed a little.

"Well it's just like how Shirley loves you despite your lazy attitude."

This time it was Lelouch's turn to blush. "She said I had a lazy attitude?"

"Well you do." Euphie said with a smile.

Lelouch just sighed and looked around realizing everyone else was gone and they were the only two left in the room.

"Oops! We better catch up!" said Euphie. Then she ran out of the room leaving him behind.

Lelouch looked back at the cuttlefish who was still regarding him in curiosity.

"Sorry little guy but I better do the same. Nice meeting you." he said with a small smile. Then he walked out of the room, joining the family and leaving his unexpected new friend behind.

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Ginger: Don't ask where the cuttlefish idea came from. It just came out of nowhere like every other idea I get. Anyways! The usual thanks to my new found friend Digidreamer, and of course one sided pancake. Thanks guys!


	10. With the rain comes hope and love

Disclaimer: WE all know I don't own code geass, otherwise I'd be rich and not in debt from college loans.

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It was raining.

Lelouch sighed as he starred out his window. He wanted desperately to go sit on his balcony before he went to bed, like he had taken to doing every night.

But thanks to a storm that had moved in around dinner time, it was raining, and raining hard.

Lelouch looked at his clock which told him it was ten o'clock. But he wasn't tired. In fact, the rain seemed to be keeping him awake. It always brought back memories. Nearly none that were good. Memories of tears, of sadness, the memory of Shirley loosing her father.

He could hardly take listening to the pitter patter against his window anymore and he went downstairs, quietly sneaking through the dark house and out onto the covered patio.

Then he did something he never expected to do. He ran out into the rain and tumbled down into the wet grass, laying there, letting the rain soak him to the bone, as if he had a false hope of it somehow washing away the blood that covered him.

"And so the demon emperor wishes for the impossible." he whispered to himself, starring up at the clouds and watching the rain fall down. "I don't deserve a home like this. Shirley and Euphie deserve this family, I don't."

After a few moments he blinked in surprise when he saw Leon's face smiling down at him.

"Is it usually customary for you to lay in the rain with your regrets until you catch a cold?" he asked with a kind hearted chuckle.

Lelouch said nothing, he just continued to stare up at the sky.

But he never expected for Leon to lay in the grass opposite of him, their heads together.

"So what are we starring at exactly?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular." he shrugged.

After a moment of silence Leon finally said: "So I heard Shirley told you about the family bet."

Lelouch just nodded.

Shirley had told him that the family had been taking bets on where Leon had come from since nobody actually knew his real story. Not even Roderick who had been given up at Birth, Leon being the one that was kept.

The pot was now at over a hundred dollars with the closest guesser winning.

So far, no one had come close.

"Shirley told me the hint you gave her about your real name. I think I figured it out." he said smiling a little.

"Have you now?" came Leon's amused voice. "If that's true I'll give you twenty bucks myself."

"It starts with an 'A' and ends with an 'R,' it's eight letters long and it means 'Man's defender.' I did some research."

"You snuck onto my computer." he said accusingly.

"Sorry."

"Just don't do it again without asking. So what's your guess?"

"Is your name Alistair?"

He heard Leon's warm laughter float through the sound of the rain.

"Very good Lelouch! Yes my real name is Alistair."

"Alistair what?"

"Now that I can't tell you. You'll have to figure out more of it for yourself. But even then you'd never guess what family."

"Are you a part of the royal family?"

"No. Just a simple family. Would you like a hint?"

"Yes please."

"Alright, you see him every day, but even he's unaware that we're related."

Lelouch sat and thought for a moment. "I see him every day? It's not Mitch is it? Wait, I don't see him every day." He said thinking a little bit more. "Can I have one more hint?"

"I'm his namesake."

The realization hit Lelouch like a ton of bricks. "Are you related to Mr. Ashtor?"

"Yes. When I first ended up on the streets, I ended up in London, taken in by Mellissa Pennyapple, Travis's daughter who had taken over her mother's pub. I fibbed and told her I didn't have a name so she decided to name me after her Uncle Leon. Little did she know that she was my second cousin."

"So you're either the grandson of Mr. Ashtor or his brother Cameron."

"Now which one makes more sense it that case?"

"Mr. Ashtor."

"Yes."

"So your Mr. Ashtor's grandson, but he doesn't know it. Why?"

"He never knew about my mother. He had been with my grandmother for a while when he was in Europe. Then they decided it wouldn't work and he left, being transferred back to the Pacific fleet with Travis well before my mother was born. But even then, I don't want him to be angry with my mother for letting me go."

"Letting you go? What's that supposed to mean?" Lelouch asked.

"I ran away when I was six. Before he was made my counterpart. Miss Vivian knew which is why we were put together, but I asked her not to tell him. My parents never searched for me. I asked them not to." he admitted sadly.

"Why would you do something like that if you loved them?"

"Because I didn't want to see the fear in my parents eyes when I had an angry spell anymore. I had been kidnapped when I was two and found again when I was five. During those three years I was a guinea pig for medical research and I began to change, a lot. I started growing bigger, stronger, smarter, and along with that, angrier. I never meant it towards them. I would always cry to my mother telling her I was sorry and I didn't mean it and she always forgave me, but after I managed to punch through a brick wall when I was six, every time I had an anger spell, there was fear in her eyes, as if she was worried that I was going to turn my anger against her someday. So one night I left. I wrote a note asking them not to search for me and that I was sorry I had put them through what I had. Then I wandered until Mellissa found me on a trip to whales. When she was in the hospital after she had gotten sick, I met dad. He took pity on me and took me home with him."

After a moment of silence Lelouch finally asked, "Why did you tell me? After you've kept all of this from the rest of the family for years?"

"Because knowing you, you would've figured it out eventually anyway." Leon sighed.

"How'd you end up with the name Berkenbridge?"

"My current mother, Jamie Berkenbridge had been a friend of my dad's for years. She took me hoping that between her and a lot of animal interactions I'd mellow out. She named me Polar Bear."

Lelouch couldn't help but laugh.

"Polar Bear? Why Polar Bear?"

"There were two reason's behind it. Well four really. Two for each word. The bear is because when I get angry, I growl. And it's not the usual angry growl that most people have it's a full out animalistic growl and snarl that makes people think I've gone insane and am about to start barking and foaming at the mouth which has yet to happen. I have barked, but nothing more than that. The other reason's because my mum for some reason believes I'm as cuddly as a teddy bear, which I beg to differ."

Lelouch just laughed even harder at the teddy bear explanation.

"So the Polar comes from……?"

"Number one, I just like the cold. She used to get after me when we'd visit family up north in the winter because I'd run out in the snow wearing jeans and a tee-shirt and I'd never get cold. The other reason is because when she first took me in, I was very cautious about who I let near me, so she said I had a heart of ice. Mind you it's melted over the years."

"That's for sure." Lelouch agreed.

"Unfortunately the name stuck through flight training. A bunch of older guys would pick on me because I was younger so I'd start to growl and snarl and scare them off. One of them later came to me and said, 'you know you growl like an animal right?' I told him that's why my mum called me polar bear. He didn't believe me until my mum sent me a letter and her caught a glimpse at the first sentence which said, 'for my dear polar bear,' then he ran around telling everyone else and it stuck. So now the side of my jet says 'Leon 'Polar Bear' Berkenbridge,' and it's been that way ever since."

"Polar Bear? So what's your dad's name? Isn't he a pilot too?"

"Twinkles."

"Twinkles?"

"His full last name is Midnightstarlight thanks to Mr. Malachai. So, twinkle, twinkle little star. Twinkles."

"Twinkles. That's funny. How do you even come up with Midnightstarlight anyway?"

"Mr. Malachai's father is from the Star family of arch angels, his mother from the light family and he was born in the Midnight generation. Hence the name Midnightstarlight."

"Wow, that's kinda strange." he admitted.

Suddenly the rain stopped and Lelouch starred up at the sky to see the clouds begin to drift away, letting the moon shine down on them. He sat up feeling his clothes sag with the weight of the rain that they had soaked up. He looked down at Leon and smiled a little.

Leon looked surprisingly peaceful laying in the wet grass stretched out all six feet ten inches, one hand behind his head, the other resting on his chest.

"Now that the rain's over and your most likely going catch a cold anyway, you've decided you want to get up?" he asked with a smile making Lelouch chuckle.

"Leon, why did you agree to take me?" he asked curiously.

"I'll be honest, I don't have the slightest clue. Dad told me I didn't have to, but I agreed anyway, and I'm fairly glad I did."

"So what are you? My big brother? Or my father?" Lelouch asked, sitting cross-legged, his elbows resting on his knees and his chin resting in the palms of his hands as he looked down at him.

"I should be your big brother. Why do you ask?"

"Because sometimes, you act like you're my father, instead of my brother." Lelouch admitted.

"Is that a bad thing?" Leon asked, looking at him in curiosity.

Lelouch felt himself smile, then he shook his head. "Not at all. Actually, the other night, when you were singing to Kit, I sat there thinking that I would've given the whole world for Nunnally and I to have a father like you."

"Funny, when I was little, I just wanted someone that would know what I am and still tell me that they love me." he admitted.

"Like your mother who loves her little Polar Bear." said Lelouch with a smile making Leon laugh.

"Exactly. One of the people in this family, he was a lot like me for a while. He was rescued from WWII. A British captain about my age. His name's Braydon, and he tried to commit suicide by fighting in the war."

"Why?"

"Because after his sister Tessa was born, his parents stopped telling them that they loved him. He was only nine. He loved his sister dearly, but every time he told her she loved him, she said she hated him. For no reason. She just hated him. The last thing she had ever told him before her and her parents were killed during one of the first bombing raids on London was that she had no idea why he loved her because she hated him and that the world would be better off if he was dead. His ex-girlfriend left him saying that she wished he would do the world a favor and kill himself when he never did anything wrong but love them. He then lost his house in another bombing raid so he just kept being sent out to the front lines hoping to die. He lived through the D- day invasion and he ran at an enemy gun nest without his helmet like an idiot."

"I guess I would feel the same way if Nunnally had told me that she hated me and the world would be better off if I was dead. Now granted it is better off now that I'm dead, but if I heard it from my little sister, that would be……. Painful." Lelouch admitted.

"I finally had to beat some sense into him because he was being stupid after he got here. He couldn't understand that he had a family with us. Then Euphie and Tara hugged him and told him they loved him and everything changed. That was the first time he ever heard the words 'I love you' directed towards him in fifteen years. I think that's why Braydon and I have become pretty close to each other. We relate to each other in terms of hating ourselves and having no one love us for a long time."

"At least I had Nunnally." Lelouch admitted. "She gave me a reason to live. Suzaku, Kallen, and Shirley, and a few of my other friends too. They're the main reason I kept going."

Lelouch watched as Leon sat up in front of him.

"Now why do you keep going?" he asked. "The rest of your friends aren't here. Why do you live now?"

"Because………" he paused and thought for a moment. "Because, I feel like……. I'm home, and at peace with the world around me for once. I have a new family. You, and Kit, and the Ashtor brothers. Shirley and Euphie. I'm home." he said looking down and picking at the wet grass.

Lelouch felt him gently tip up his chin and he saw a kind, fatherly smile on Leon's face.

"Good answer Lelouch." he said softly.

Lelouch smiled at the fatherly touch as Leon gently ran a hand through his hair which made him feel like a very happy, very loved little boy which made him think, 'now I know how Kit feels.'

"Come on, let's go inside. It's getting late and we best get out of these wet clothes." said Leon standing up.

Lelouch followed suit and felt comfortable as Leon wrapped an arm around his thin shoulders in a hug before they headed inside together.

Upstairs, Lelouch had changed into dry clothes before climbing into his bed and turning off his light.

"Talk about a miracle." he whispered to himself. "I went from being a vengeful tyrant to being one lucky kid with a new home. I wonder how that happened?"

After a moment and a quick thank you to whoever gave him the second chance, he curled up under his covers and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

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Ginger: Leon's Ashtor's grandson? Hmmm....... even I didn't see that one comming untill I wrote it. Wow. Anyway, aww brotherly,... er fatherly love? Something like that. Another strange chapter done. Thanks Digidreamer for keeping me going!


	11. a cold, a warm touch and a choice

Disclaimer: don't own code geass yeah, yeah, yeah.

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When Lelouch finally woke up he felt sore and achy as he let out a loud sneeze. He just groaned as he pulled the blankets over his head and curled up when he felt a chill.

"Lelouch? It's time for you to get up." came Leon's voice as someone tugged the blanket off of his head.

"Not today, please." Lelouch grumbled. Then he sneezed again.

Leon gave him a concerned, heart felt look.

"Are you feeling alright Lelouch?"

Lelouch sneezed in response. "No." he said with a stuffy sniffle, as he closed his eyes against the light.

He felt a warm but rough and calloused hand, gently feel his forehead and his cheeks.

"You've got quite a fever there Lelouch."

Lelouch sighed and rolled over onto his back looking up at Leon who was smiling a little.

"I told you that you'd catch a cold laying out in the rain last night." he said, gently patting Lelouch's chest.

But feeling curious Lelouch lifted Leon's hand and looked at it closely.

It wasn't as soft and gentle as Mr. Ashtor's hand. The skin was rough, covered in calluses and scars.

"What are you doing Lelouch?" Leon asked with a curious chuckle.

"Being curious I suppose." he shrugged, letting him go.

"Well I'm sorry if my hands aren't as soft as Ashtor's. I use a lot of tools and I still climb a lot of ropes, and I still get cut up. Ashtor was a doctor, his hands haven't gone through what mine have."

"But they're warmer." Lelouch admitted with a tiny sniffle.

"Yes, well, I'm still alive aren't I?" He said.

"I guess." Lelouch sighed. Then he started trying to cover up as another chill went through him.

"I should've known this was going to happen. I should've made you come in the house sooner." Leon said, pulling the blanket up to Lelouch's chin and tucking it in around his neck.

"But I learned so much last night." Lelouch said, attempting a joke with a feeble chuckle.

"Well I didn't want you to get sick. Especially not with dad coming today."

Lelouch suddenly felt curious. "Mr. Midnightstar?"

"The one and only. Or should I say two?" he said smiling.

Lelouch couldn't help but wonder. He had yet to meet the man that saved him and brought him to his new home.

"Actually, I was talking with him on the phone early this morning. Now I know there's not much of an age difference between us, actually I think there's just about three years, But we were wondering if you'd want my father to adopt you, or if you'd rather have…… me adopt you. Since we have yet to forge your paperwork."

Lelouch felt a little torn.

"If your dad adopted me, would I still be able to stay here?" he asked.

"Occasionally, but you'd probably move into the sanctuary with Euphie and Shirley."

"But, I like it here." he admitted.

"Well that's one of the reasons we were debating, and you said you already think of me as a father so……." he paused a moment. "Anyway, just think about it. Dad will be here for lunch so you'll be able to meet him later and maybe that will help you decide. But for the record, Midnightstar Sanctuary's a wonderful home. I've spent most of my life there and I loved living there. It's got just as good of a view on the beach, and you'd have a bigger bedroom."

"But I like it here." Lelouch said again.

Leon smiled. "Well think about it. I'm not trying to get you to leave. I love having you here just the same and I know Kit would get very upset without you here, especially considering how quickly he warmed up to you, but it's your decision. You never know, you might find you like dad better. But either way, get some rest and hopefully your fever will go down by the time dad gets here."

Lelouch just nodded before curling up under the blanket as Leon walked out of the room.

He wasn't sure he wanted to leave now that he had begun to feel comfortable.

True he would be with Shirley and Euphie but………

He just sighed and closed his eyes drifting off to sleep before he could really think about anything.

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Ginger:Sorry about the short chapter, but the next one will be much longer. We're finally going to meet Quatre and Malachai Midnightstarlight themselves. As Midorchi_chan had asked for. I guess I just wanted a short little fluffy bit. Thanks for staying faithfull to this Digidreamer!


	12. one difficult choice one definite answer

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass! I wish I did though!

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When Lelouch finally woke up later in the day he felt much better despite the stuffy nose. So he got out of bed and got dressed before he headed downstairs where he found Leon sitting at the dining room table talking with two men, one dressed in black and the other dressed in a flight suit like Leon's, both with a cup of tea in their hands.

Leon smiled when he saw him.

"Well good afternoon sleepy head. And how are you feeling?"

"Better." Lelouch admitted.

Both men turned to look at him making Lelouch squeak a bit in surprise.

They were practically identical. The platinum blonde hair was heavily streaked with grey in the same exact places with the same exact uneven spikes. Both men had perfectly identical faces with smooth pale features. They even had the same expressions on their faces which quickly turned into a kind smile.

But what had scared Lelouch was their eyes.

The man in the flight suit had a deep icy blue that reflected warmth and kindness.

The man in black had a dark amber that reflected sadness and an undeniable strength at the same time. Eyes that made even C.C.'s seem relatively human.

"Well you're looking much better than you had when we first brought you." said the man in the flight suit with a smile.

"Yeah, I….. I feel better." he said, still very unsure about the two men.

"Lelouch this is my father, Quatre Midnighstar." said Leon gesturing to the man in the flight suit. "And this is Malachai Midnightstarlight." he said obviously referring to the man in black.

"Nice to meet you." Lelouch said softly. He walked over and sat down beside Leon at the table, watching the two men closely.

"Are you sure you're alright Lelouch?" Leon asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired from that fever earlier." he said glancing at the man in black who was making him feel somewhat uneasy.

Quatre looked normal in the flight suit. Average and very comfortable.

Malachai looked somewhat menacing. He was wearing all black. A black silk dress shirt, a black tie and a black silk vest.

What made him uneasy was the patch on the vest.

It was absolutely terrifying. A picture of a decapitated skeleton a scroll in one hand, a book in the other, the skull laughing as it's body kneeled in a knightly fashion behind two scythes, crossed over each other and blood dripping off the blades into a large red puddle at the skeleton's knees. The top had the words 'Atrum Nex Viator,' the bottom, 'Perdice Mortis Nuntius.'

Lelouch jumped a little when he felt Leon's hand on his forehead.

"Your fever's not completely gone. No wonder you're not looking very good. Why don't you come into the kitchen real quick and we'll get you some medicine." said Leon standing up.

Lelouch just stood up and obediently followed Leon into the kitchen.

"What's wrong Lelouch?" Leon asked, searching through a cabinet that was off to the side.

"I still have the fever I guess." he shrugged, feeling better away from the Messenger of Death that sat in the dining room.

"That's not all it is. You were fine when you first walked down the stairs. You can tell me, honest." he said pulling out a medicine bottle before digging in a drawer for something.

"The one guy, Mr. Malachai, I feel kind of uneasy around him." he admitted softly.

"I figured as much." Leon sighed softly. "Open up."

Lelouch opened his mouth and Leon stuck a basic glass thermometer under his tongue before fussing with the bottle.

"He doesn't always look as friendly as dad does, but he's really not all that bad. He was actually married before he and dad ended up together like that."

"The angel of death married?" he mumbled.

"Strange I know."

"And that patch of his is freaky."

"Yes well that was the head of the high council's decision to make him wear it." said Leon taking the thermometer and looking at it. "That can't be right." he mumbled shaking it. "I don't know why I keep this stupid old thing around, I need to get a new one."

Lelouch was about to say something but he was stopped when Leon put the thermometer back in his mouth.

"Don't talk this time. It messes it up." he said sternly. "Anyway, don't let the patch fool you. He may seem a bit scary, but underneath that patch is actually a very kind heart. Remember that."

Lelouch just nodded as Leon measured a precise amount of medicine in a cup.

"There's nothing for you to fear anyway. It's not like he's here to take your soul, he's the one that saved it after all."

Leon took the thermometer again. "That makes much more sense." he said, then he handed Lelouch the medicine cup. "Drink."

Lelouch drank the liquid but the taste was appalling and he almost spit it out.

"Don't spit. I know it tastes terrible, but it works." said Leon taking the cup and rinsing it out as Lelouch swallowed hard to get the medicine down. "It'll get rid of that fever and help your sinuses drain so you can breathe."

"What was my temperature anyway?" Lelouch asked, taking the glass of water that Leon had handed him.

"A little over a hundred and one. You're lucky if that's a minor fever for you. My fever starts when my body reaches the average human body temperature."

"How is that possible?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"I'm sure you've noticed this house is usually freezing?"

"I did notice that."

"Well I can't always control my body temperature. My average temperature is below average at around ninety four degrees, which may not sound like much of a difference, but trust me, it is. My flight suit has special pockets in it for ice packs which is how I survive my flights."

"I guess I should consider myself lucky then." Lelouch admitted. "But the one guy still creeps me out a little."

Leon just smiled and shook his head a little.

"You best get used to it though. He is family. Now let's go have a nice chat with them shall we?"

"Alright."

Leon chuckled and ruffled his hair.

Then they went back into the dining room where both men were talking quietly.

"How bad is his fever?" Quatre asked concerned.

"It's just a small fever. Nothing to worry about." said Leon. "He just caught a bit of a cold after he stayed out in the rain for a while last night."

"Well at least he's recovering well." said Malachai.

Lelouch couldn't help but stare a little.

Malachai's voice sounded near identical to Quatre's.

"Anyway, back to what we were discussing earlier." said Leon.

"I honestly think it'd be best if he stayed with you kiddo." said Quatre. "It's quite obvious he's doing well here."

"Shirley and Euphie said there was an obvious change in his attitude yesterday." said Malachai. "If he's doing alright here, I don't see any reason to move him to the sanctuary."

"True. But Lelouch deserves the chance to decide whether or not he wants to be with Shirley and Euphie, or if he'd rather be here." said Leon.

Lelouch suddenly felt like a child with the adults talking around him, deciding for him as he starred down at the table.

"How would he know what the Sanctuary's like if he's never been there?" said Leon.

"Good point kiddo."

"But I still say he'd be better off here." said Malachai.

"Well he does want to stay here, and I want him to stay as well, but I want him to have a choice." Leon said.

"Well the other thing I'm questioning is care." said Quatre. "Right now he get's what he needs physically because of Ashtor being here, and he get's the one on one attention with you and Kit that would be harder for him to get at the Sanctuary with all of the other kids.

"But he's not doing so well when it comes to socializing him with kids his own age which is what he'll really need come August." Leon debated. "He's like Kit in some ways, he needs the individual attention but he'll eventually need to work on his social abilities, which, no offense, are nearly as bad as mine were when you first took me in."

"But we don't want to overwhelm him like we did with Kit either." said Quatre. "Or Suzaku. Suzaku was so overwhelmed by the family that he couldn't handle it and he had to go up into his room by himself for a while."

Lelouch suddenly felt curious.

Was the Suzaku they were talking about, his Suzaku?

"Euphie and Shirley had to help integrate him into the family, because they were the only two he would let near him." said Malachai. "I somehow get the feeling Lelouch's reaction would be worse."

"I suppose that's true." agreed Leon. "But he still deserves to know you and to know what the Sanctuary's like."

Lelouch couldn't help but feel awkward. He, for some reason, couldn't picture himself calling Quatre father.

But he felt he could easily call Leon dad.

Malachai made him uneasy even though he knew he was friendly enough.

Mr. Ashtor made him feel comfortable and, even though he was dead, he wasn't the Master of death.

Having Kit running around and giggling was one thing.

Having thirty others swarm around him was another, and not something he wanted to encounter at the current time.

"Which would you rather do Lelouch?" Leon asked, breaking Lelouch's train of thought.

"Huh?"

"Would you rather go to the sanctuary and be with your friends, or would you rather stay here?" Quatre asked.

"I don't know." Lelouch shrugged. "I guess I need to think about it. Excuse me." he said, then he stood up and left the dining room, going outside where he sat in the grass on the edge of the yard and watched the tide come in.

His mind was spinning.

He was happy where he was, but he wanted to be with his friends again. It was a tough decision.

After a few minutes Lelouch looked up when he heard a noise behind him, and he saw Leon who sat down beside him.

"What do you think Lelouch?" Leon asked.

"I kind of get the feeling you'd rather have me go with them." Lelouch admitted.

"If that's the feeling you're getting it's quite unintentional." Leon admitted. "I'll be honest, I don't really see you as a little brother. I see you as I see Kit, as a son. But I want you to have a chance to be with your friends and around other kids."

"Who's Suzaku?" Lelouch asked.

"I thought you'd figure that one out." said Leon somewhat surprised. "Your friend, Suzaku Kururugi. He wasn't doing so well back in Britannia so they rescued him as well."

"So that's just one more reason why I should go huh?" Lelouch asked, laying on his back and starring up at the sky.

"In a way yes." agreed Leon with a tiny nod. "But I think Kit and I would both be quite depressed if you left."

"Now that I've finally gotten comfortable, I don't want to uproot myself so soon." Lelouch admitted.

"And I noticed you're still not too comfortable with Mr. Malachai."

"I know I shouldn't be, but I feel nervous when he's around."

"Well for the record. He's not always around. He's usually hiding in dad's head. Dad lives for the two of them because Mr. Malachai has deemed himself socially unacceptable. As they both say, they may have two minds, but they really have only one body and they share one heart. They're both very loving men."

"But it's still strange." he sighed.

"Alright, out with it. I know there's more on your mind that you're not telling me." said Leon. "That look in your eyes is telling me that the gears are turning in your head and there's something far more complicated going on."

"I guess I feel like…….. I'm just an average kid here, and I've come to see you as my father figure as opposed to my older brother. You just seem…… much older than you really are."

Lelouch smiled a little when he saw the slightly perturbed look on Leon's face.

"Are you calling me old?"

"Let me rephrase that. You _act_ older than you really are. If you acted like Roderick, then yes, I'd see you as a brother. But you don't. You're more like Mr. Ashtor."

"Well he is my grandfather."

"Well he say's you act older than him."

"That's not very nice." Leon huffed a bit.

"I can't see calling Mr. Midnightstar father. I could easily see me calling you dad." he admitted.

Leon smiled a little. "So the fact that I'm only three years older than you doesn't bother you?"

"Like I said, you act a lot older than twenty. So that really doesn't bother me at all. Is that bad?"

"Not from where I'm sitting. After last night, I asked dad because he originally wanted to move you to the Sanctuary when you were done recovering. I said I wanted to keep you here and in the end he started to agree. But there were a lot of things we honestly weren't sure about. Before dad got here, I started thinking about it. I don't want to take you from your friends."

"You're not. Shirley and Euphie come over all of the time don't they?"

"True."

"So it's not like I'd never see them." Lelouch shrugged. "I want to stay here. With you, Kit and the Ashtor brothers. I don't want to have a nervous breakdown being surrounded by too many people at once."

Leon laughed.

"Poor Suzaku. Unfortunately our family is the kind that immediately tries to make someone feel very welcome, we just forget that not everyone can handle all of us at once." he admitted.

Lelouch watched as he stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants.

"Well it's quite obvious you made your decision so let's go tell dad and Mr. Malachai so they can be on their way. Kit's getting somewhat impatient."

"What for?" Lelouch asked, standing up as well.

"It's Saturday night. The night when I usually have overnight flights and what not. So Kit goes and stays at his grandpa's house for the night where he can play with the other kids."

"Oh. Alright. I guess that makes sense then." said Lelouch.

Then the two headed back inside, Lelouch feeling better now that he knew his life was becoming stable. Knowing that he was building up his own stability.

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Ginger:Another fluffy chapter I know. And for Midorchi-chan's curiosity, I do not have this typed up before hand. I just think up a new chapter or two every night off the top of my head because I can't sleep. (I'm finishing this up and posting it at 4am) I will try and post a new chapter around 1am eastern time every night. And as always thank you to my three faithfull readers! Digidreamer, Midorchi_chan, and one sided pancake! Thanks for keeping me going on this guys! You're the best!


	13. Random info and The black knights?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Code Geass. Never have never will....... yeah, whatever.

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After Quatre and Malachai left with Kit, Lelouch sat on his balcony feeling very happy with his decision to stay.

"So you're staying instead of moving to the sanctuary are you?" said Mr. Ashtor sitting beside him with a smile.

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to be with my friends again, but it's not like I won't see them. Kit said they only live a half an hour north." Lelouch shrugged.

"You like it here that much?"

"Yes I do." he said honestly. "Leon makes me feel like a little kid for once. I'm enjoying my new perspective on life here."

"You think you can handle being stuck with Travis and I?"

"No offence, but isn't your brother Cameron supposed to be worse?"

"Yes."

"And isn't he trapped in Midnightstar Sanctuary?"

"You've got a point." Mr. Ashtor said with a smile. "I hope someday you'll get to meet him when he's back to normal. He was originally a very loving, kindhearted man. The only people he never got along with were Travis and our father. But after our mother died, Cameron took me in. He and Amy took in my nephew Connor who was a teenage orphan rescued from a local fire. Just the fact that he got Amy Schumacher to like him was a miracle in itself because that meant he had to be pretty nice."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Considering at one point she terrified him enough he refused to go to the hospital when he got sick for fear of having her as a nurse………"

"That bad huh?"

"She wasn't very nice to officers. A lot of guys would hit on her just because she was rear admiral Schumacher's daughter. The first time Cameron tried to approach her she read into it wrong and smacked him. It wasn't until later he found out who she was, he just thought she was pretty."

"Did it ever work out?"

"Eventually when she realized if I loved him as much as I did, he must not of been like most guys. I was one of the few people she liked because I was her superior but I still acted like she was mine. She became something like another mother to me. But I think out of the three of us, Travis got the one girl that was relatively normal and that was Abby,"

"Why? You're wife wasn't normal?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

"Well seeing as when we were kids she was a nasty little bitch no. She actually bit me once too. High school we were just on complete opposite ends of the social scale, The Korean war she was a nurse under me. After that about ten years later, she was my foster son's first grade teacher. I think it was Grant that finally brought us together on friendly terms. We were married a year after I adopted him."

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle. "Wow. Nice choice in a girl Mr. Ashtor."

"Well people change." Mr. Ashtor shrugged. "Just like you have."

"True." agreed Lelouch.

"I noticed you two have become quite close." said Leon joining them on the balcony.

"Mr. Ashtor seems to start some of the more interesting conversations." Lelouch admitted.

"Well he's one of the more interesting members in this family." Leon said with a smile.

"Now is that any way to talk to your grandfather?" Mr. Ashtor said, gently smacking Leon's arm.

"How'd you find that out?" Leon asked.

"I heard the two of you talking last night. I can't believe Marie let your mother name you Alistair. That's a terrible name."

"Gee, thanks grandpa, that makes me feel so much better about myself," said Leon bitterly, making Mr. Ashtor laugh.

"I'm just joking with you. Your name is just fine, no matter which one you use."

"Anyway, I have to go to the base to pick up a few things, do you want to come with me Lelouch?"

"I thought your captain said you weren't allowed on base." said Lelouch.

"So you were listening in on that conversation! I knew it!" he said making Lelouch blush. "And for the record he actually asked me to because I have to get some paperwork. I'm just not allowed to work. So are you going to come with me or not?"

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Lelouch shrugged. "Where is it?"

"About fifteen minutes away from the aquarium we went to yesterday."

"Okay." he said, standing up.

The two of them were soon on the freeway heading towards San Diego.

There was silence between them most of the way, but Lelouch had to admit, it was a comfortable silence.

Of course he had no idea that there really was such a thing until that moment.

"Tired?" Leon asked kindly as they crossed the large bridge over to Coronado island.

Lelouch said nothing, he just starred at the large ships and tiny sail boats in the harbor.

"Is that the ship you work on?" he asked, pointing to the large aircraft carrier.

"It depends, what's the number on it?"

Lelouch looked at the island. "It's got a 74 on it."

"Then yes, that's the carrier I work on. The John C. Stennis."

"The funny thing is, I've seen a floating carrier, but I haven't seen one like that since I was little and that one seems more fascinating. Who's John C. Stennis?"

"A former senator that died in '89. Mind you sometimes I wonder about why we chose to name this carrier after him. Don't get me wrong, I love the ship, it's my second home, literally. But I feel that the man we named him after wasn't always very right. He flip flopped too much. First he supported racial segregation, then he supported civil rights movements, then he opposed a holiday for the world's best known Civil rights leader, then he helped campaign for the first African American senator. I think the only reason we were named for him was because he worked with the armed services committee from '69 to 1980 so they started calling him the father of the modern navy."

"That sounds complicated." Lelouch admitted.

"It is."

"How can you even remember all of that?"

"Because I'm a dork and what I read I can easily remember because it sticks no matter what I do."

"You're memory is that impressive?"

"My parents first realized something was wrong with me when I read every book in my father's library in a week. I read the play 'A midsummer night's dream' in about a half an hour then I recited the entire play word for word, actions included, in about twenty minutes and I was able to explain the entire thing, symbols, meanings, and quotes with nearly no effort. That's when I realized I had become a very strange little kid. I can still recite the stupid thing and I haven't read it in about ten years."

"No offense, but the more I learn about you, the more normal I feel." said Lelouch.

"Did you want to feel normal?"

"I don't care anymore." Lelouch admitted with a shrug. "So are you the kind of person that just happens to be full of information?"

"Trust me, my head's full of random crap that really isn't worth knowing."

"Like what?"

"If you took all of the required technical manuals from our ship and laid them one on top of the other in a normal stack, they'd be as tall as our Washington Monument which reaches five hundred and fifty five feet tall. There's nine hundred miles worth of wiring and cable throughout the ship, more than thirty thousand light fixtures, twenty eight thousand sheets, fourteen thousand pillow cases, and if all of the mattresses were laid end to end they'd stretch nine miles. There are over two thousand telephones, and each one of our two anchors, which were originally the U.S.S. Forrestal's, weighs thirty tons which is worth two and a half Tillicums."

"What's a Tillicum?"

"The thirteen thousand pound killer whale my mother works with. He's six and a half tons. A whole half a ton overweight."

"I uh…… didn't know that killer whales could be overweight." Lelouch said strangely.

"They had to put him on a diet and exercise routine and cut out a lot of the salmon."

"Wow, you really are just a book of pointless information aren't you?"

"Because of it one of the guys I work with bought me this book he saw at the airport. He said when he saw it he immediately thought of me because it's called 'the book of useless information, things you never thought you needed to know, and probably don't.'"

Lelouch laughed.

"Considering everything you just told me, I can see why he would think of you." he said as they pulled up to a security gate.

"Sometimes I hate my memory." Leon said truthfully as he pulled out his wallet. He quickly showed his ID to the guard, then they drove onto the base.

"I find it kind of amusing."

"Well I'm glad one of us does."

Lelouch starred out the window at all of the buildings.

"It's kind of empty here." he said.

"That's because this is a Naval Air Station. We have more air strips than offices." Leon said as they turned down a separate road.

Between the few buildings Lelouch would catch glimpses of different kinds of planes parked in large parking spaces.

"What's the kind that you fly?" Lelouch asked.

"See those smaller fixed wing jets in that lot over there?" Leon asked pointing.

Lelouch nodded.

"I fly those now."

"Now? You didn't before?"

"Before I flew F-14 tomcats. Then they got rid of them about three years ago. Most of us were so mad because we loved our cats. Don't get me wrong, I love my F-18, and it doesn't have anywhere near as many mechanical problems, but I still miss my tomcat. Mine got lucky though. Most were sent to the bone yard, mine was sent to a museum so I can still go see it."

"And does it have the name 'Polar Bear' on the side?"

"Damn right it does." said Leon proudly making Lelouch laugh as they pulled into a parking lot.

But Lelouch paused when he saw the name on the building.

"What's this place?"

"This is my squadron's building. I'm the commanding officer of VFA-154. The Black Knights."

"You have got to be kidding! That has to be one of the most ironic things I've ever had happen in my life." Lelouch sighed.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because back home in Britannia, when I first started the rebellion against the emperor, I formed a group. I named us the black knights and I was the leader."

This time it was Leon's turn to laugh.

"Now that's highly amusing isn't it?" said Leon parking and getting out of the truck.

Lelouch just sat, starring at the building in front of him.

"Are you coming?" Leon asked, looking at him.

"Ummm……. Yeah I suppose." he said getting out.

He just quietly followed Leon into the building, looking at all of the pictures along the hallway that depicted the squadron's history from 1940 to present day.

"Welcome to my office." said Leon walking into an office.

Lelouch walked in after him as Leon turned on the lights. He looked around in curiosity at everything around him. He walked over to a shelf covered in pictures an awards.

One of the pictures was labeled 'VFA-154 Black Knights 2002 sea cruise,' and kneeling down in the front was Leon in his flight suit, quite obviously the youngest with a childish grin. But other than that, he looked just like he was one of the others.

More pictures showed him and his fellow pilots through the years and Leon quite obviously grew in each one.

The awards were numerous. Everything from distinguished flier to top of the class at Naval weapons fighter training school.

Lelouch couldn't help but develop an awe inspiring feeling from looking at Leon's history of flying on the shelves.

It was obvious he took his job seriously and worked meticulously towards the perfection he had achieved.

It was no wonder why he refused to give it up.

"Okay, I've got the papers, we can go now." said Leon walking out from behind his desk.

"Did you really win all of these awards?" Lelouch asked.

"Of course, if I didn't they wouldn't be there." he said with a shrug as if it was nothing. "But trust me, my record's not spotless."

"I heard something about a crash." Lelouch admitted.

"It was when I first learned to fly the F-18 by myself without a RIO. It was one in the morning, pouring rain, tossing seas, a pitching deck. When I landed my landing gear failed and the arresting cable snapped sending my jet hanging off the side of the carrier by the two back wheels. The only way to get out was to use the ejection seat because they couldn't get to me. My canopy didn't launch right, I nearly broke my back when I hit it, which was lucky considering it could've been my neck and I broke one of my legs. I ended up pretty much tumbling down into the water. It's wasn't a very nice landing."

"I wouldn't think so."

"I got lucky. The damage to my leg was bad enough I ended up being sent home to one of the naval hospitals. They told me that I'd barely be able to walk again, let alone fly."

"Yet here you are."

"I was up and walking just fine within a month. One advantage of being a…… whatever it is I am, because I sometimes doubt I'm completely human now, is that I heal unusually fast. I was up and flying by the next sea cruise. Of course I got lucky that the cause of the crash was the arresting cable snapping. Otherwise that was a thirty million dollar piece of equipment lost on my account. Luckily because until then I had a spotless record, they knew it wasn't just me making a blunder considering I already had several hundred traps underneath my belt at the time."

"So you got lucky." said Lelouch looking at more pictures on the wall.

"I was very lucky."

He paused at one picture and laughed.

"What is this?" he said looking at what would've normally been a very professional military picture.

Instead of just Leon in a fancy uniform, it was Leon in his uniform, looking somewhat professional, with Kit in his lap wearing a smaller version of Leon's leather flight jacket. Both of them with their right hand resting on their left forearm, behind an officer's hat and a ball cap that said CVN 74 U.S.S. John C. Stennis. But instead of looking at the camera, Leon was smiling down at Kit who was looking back up at him with a silly grin, their noses almost touching.

"That one was something of an accident." Leon admitted with a smile. "I had to go in for pictures and I had Kit with me because I had to just run basic errands for the rest of the day. They took my normal picture, then when I tried to get up, the photographer told me to wait a minute and he picked up Kit and put him in my lap. We just happened to be laughing at each other when he took that one. We have a regular one where we're both smiling at the camera. But that just happened to be my favorite."

Lelouch couldn't help but smile at the picture. To him it was a perfect representation of present and future generations together.

"I like that picture." Lelouch admitted. "It kind of shows just how much like his daddy Kit really is."

Leon just smiled and ruffled Lelouch's hair.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I don't want the captain to find out I'm still here and have him think I'm working." he said.

"I get the feeling that would be bad."

"That would be very bad." Leon said with a laugh.

So the two of them walked out of the office before heading to the truck and driving off base Leon making Lelouch laugh the entire time with stories and more useless information.

But Lelouch had to admit, it felt good to really be able to laugh again.

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Ginger: If anyone's wondering, yes the the U.S.S John C. Stennis does have VFA-154 and yes, they really are The Black Knights. Though currently the Stennis's home port is in Washington, and the Black Knights offices are actually at NAS Lemoore a little farther in-land. I just changed it to NAS North Island to make it easier. I figured it been some funny irony to have Leon be the commanding officer of a squadron known as the black knights. Anyway, my usual thanks to Digidreamer, one sided pancake, and midorchi_chan.


	14. Our old friend Suzaku and a new one too?

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass and I don't have a snappy answer to go with it.

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It was staring to get late as Lelouch sat out on his balcony reading, the sun finally fading over the horizon.

Dinner had been simple and unusually quiet without Kit. Lelouch and Leon had talked, but it was missing Kit's squeaky interjections and laughter.

So after dinner Leon had gone up to his office to do some simple work, Lelouch went outside and sat on his balcony, beginning the book that he had borrowed two days before.

He felt comfortable as he stretched out on the swing, the breeze gently rocking it back and forth as he read peacefully, becoming immersed in the book.

"So this is where you've been hiding huh?" came a familiar voice.

But it wasn't Leon.

Lelouch looked up from his book to see Suzaku, of all people looking down at him.

"I heard you ended up at the sanctuary. What are you doing here?" Lelouch asked sitting up.

"I got kind of overwhelmed by the other kids. I guess Mr. Berkenbridge called and asked if I wanted to come here. So I agreed." Suzaku admitted with a shrug. "Can I……?" he motioned to the now empty spot beside Lelouch.

"Go ahead, it's not like we're still enemies." he said, then he paused. "We're not right?"

"No. I'll admit, not all is forgiven, but most is." Suzaku admitted with a smile, sitting down beside him. "I mean, Euphie's alive, isn't she? I can't forgive you for everything, but I've at least forgiven you for a lot."

"Why thank you Suzaku." said Lelouch with a smile and a small mock bow. "I say we just forget almost everything that ever happened, and find a way to smile about what happens now."

Suzaku starred at him strangely.

"What? Why are you starring?" Lelouch asked. "Is it my hair? It wasn't my choice honest!"

Suzaku suddenly laughed.

"You're smiling!" Suzaku laughed. "You're happy! I don't remember the last time you were like this! But yes, your hair is kind of funny."

"Alright! That's it!" Lelouch laughed back, then he tackled Suzaku, sending them both tumbling to the floor where they laid laughing continuously as they starred up at the star laden sky together.

"Am I the only one confused by this whole place?" Suzaku finally managed to ask after the laughter subsided.

"No, I'm pretty confused too." Lelouch admitted. "Trust me, this place get's stranger and stranger every day, and I get weirder and weirder."

"Oh? Other than the haircut you mean?"

Suzaku laughed as Lelouch smacked him on the chest.

"I was kidding!" he laughed in his defense. "I didn't mean it! I was kidding! Anyway, why are you getting weirder?"

"I've been acting pretty childish lately, and the other day, we went to the aquarium, and thanks to Kit, I ended up compairing myself to a cuttlefish. We have a lot more in common than you'd think."

"What the hell's a cuttlefish?"

"I don't know, it's related to the squid though." Lelouch shrugged.

"Related to the squid? And you were compairing yourself to it? You really are getting weird."

"And what about you Mr. Knight? What have you been up to?"

"Other than protecting Nunnally and falling into depression, nothing much. Nothing much at all." he said with a tiny nod.

"Falling into depression huh? How'd the world end up?"

"Peaceful for the time being. Happy. The world's finally been united. The racism is slowly disappearing. The world's become a much better place."

"Without me in it." Lelouch finished.

"Maybe so, but you helped make it what it is today. Now granted you used some seriously unconventional methods, but…….. At least things are finally piecing themselves back together."

"As are we."

"Apparently." agreed Suzaku. "Now, do you usually sit on the ground and stare at the sky for no reason here?"

Lelouch sat up with a chuckle.

"Leon asked me the same exact question when he found me laying in the yard in the rain at ten o'clock at night.

"You were sitting in the rain?" Suzaku asked curiously as he sat up as well.

"Yeah, I even managed to catch a little cold from it, but……. It was well worth it."

"Do you like it here?"

"This is home now. With Leon and Kit, and the Ashtor brothers."

"Mr. Ashtor has brothers?"

"Yeah, there are three of them." Lelouch explained. "Leon, Travis and Cameron."

"How did they put up with him?"

"With who?"

"Cameron, that man's a nasty, grouchy jerk." said Suzaku. "It's apparently so usual, that the little kids tell him to be quiet and go away because he ruins the good mood in the house."

"Well Leon Ashtor said that Cameron used to be happy. I guess he's just gone down hill in the last couple of years. I don't know though, I haven't met him yet. I haven't even seen Midnightstar sanctuary yet."

"It's a beautiful place, and a wonderful home, don't get me wrong, I really like it there. I think I just got really overwhelmed by all of the kids. There are thirty kids that live in the house, then there's like another fifteen or so that are old enough they live on their own and they're married which means there's even more because of in-laws, and they all just happened to be visiting on the day I arrived."

"I remember Leon saying that they like to try and welcome people into the family, but they forget that not everyone can handle them all at once. Which is exactly why I stayed here!" he said honestly.

"I did make a new friend though. Unfortunately she drools on the pillow every now and then." said Suzaku with a chuckle.

"Please tell me you're talking about an animal." said Lelouch looking at him strangely.

"Of course I am." said Suzaku with a laugh. "Actually she insisted on coming with me."

Lelouch looked through the door to see a ball of white fur with piercing amber eyes starring at him.

Unfortunately they were eyes that were much like Malachai's which sent shivers up Lelouch's spine.

"This is Jurri. She's an arctic wolf." said Suzaku, patting his lap.

Jurri stood up revealing all of the white fluff in a stunning way as she ran over to Suzaku and jumped into his lap, licking his face, making him laugh as he hugged her tightly.

"Don't ask where she came from. Mr. Midnightstar's got a lot of strange creatures. It's like the place is half foster home, half animal sanctuary. You should see what he insisted on bringing here for you."

Lelouch gulped. "Do I want to know?"

"His name is Aldair and he's something very different." said Suzaku, ruffling the fur on Jurri's cheeks and kissing her nose. "Why don't you go get Aldair Jurri?"

The wolf let out a small howl.

"Go get Aldair and bring him in here." said Suzaku.

Lelouch watched as Jurri jumped out of Suzaku's lap, trotting over to the closed bedroom door.

She stood on her hind legs, wrapped her paws around the knob and turned it, before nudging the door open with her nose and running out.

"Wow, smart wolf." said Lelouch starring.

"There's a lot of very strange, very intelligent animals in that place."

"Like what?"

"Mr. Midnightstar has a white tiger that's very faithful to him. Her name's Sapphire and the little kids love to play with her."

"Please tell me that whatever you brought won't eat me."

"Well if I remember right, normally they shouldn't even have teeth. Aldair on the other hand has quite a bite."

"Great, but will he eat me?"

"I highly doubt it, he could, but I don't think he would." admitted Suzaku with a shrug. "He's some weird genetic mutation experiment kind of thing. He's really nice though. He said he doesn't like the taste of humans."

Lelouch starred. "What do you mean 'he said'? Mr. Midnightstar?"

"No, Aldair. He said he prefers chicken nuggets and French fries and his favorite snack is chocolate covered ants."

"And you thought I was crazy?" Lelouch sighed laying on his back, starring at the sky again.

"I'm not crazy. He talks." said Suzaku.

Lelouch became curious when he saw Suzaku turn towards the door and smile. At the same time he heard a very nasty growl.

"Hi Aldair. Glad you could join us." said Suzaku cheerfully.

"And I suppose this is Lelouch?" came a deep voice with a British accent.

Lelouch was about to sit up when he felt something step over him and stick a long tubular nose in his face as it sniffed him making him cry out in alarm.

"What is this thing?!" he yelped, sitting up.

"This is Aldair." said Suzaku as if it was nothing.

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me a 'thing.' I do have a name after all."

"Holy shit it talks!" Lelouch gasped, pushing himself back against the railing.

"I told you I wasn't crazy." said Suzaku scratching behind Jurri's ears. "He's a genetically mutated anteater that Mr. Midnightstar rescued from a lab overseas somewhere."

He was also the source of the nasty growl.

"At least he can't bite." Lelouch muttered.

"Don't be so sure about that." Aldair said cheekily

Lelouch watched with wide eyes as the anteater pointed his nose up towards the sky before it split apart revealing plenty of long, sharp, menacing, and moving fangs in a nasty, monster like roar, making Lelouch scream a little.

"Okay, he can bite. Please don't bite me." Lelouch muttered.

"I don't eat humans, they taste terrible. Trust me, I know." Aldair chuckled.

"What the hell is wrong with this family?" Lelouch sighed. "Everyday I discover something new that scares the crap out of me."

Suzaku just laughed a little. "He's your new friend Lelouch. Mr. Midnightstar figured he would be one of the few minds that would be able to match wits with you."

"You don't drool on the pillows do you?" Lelouch asked with a very weak smile.

"I can." said Aldair opening his mouth a little to reveal drool and half digested ants dripping off of his teeth.

"That's nasty." Suzaku said looking away.

"No joke." sighed Lelouch.

"I don't drool on the pillows. I promise." said Aldair. "But I can't guarantee that I won't hog your bed."

"Fantastic, then maybe I should get to bed before you take up the entire thing." said Lelouch, standing up and brushing himself off. "Are you here for the night Suzaku?"

"I'm here for a few days." said Suzaku standing up as well.

"Then I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay. Goodnight Lelouch." said Suzaku walking towards the door.

"Goodnight Suzaku."

After Suzaku had left the room Lelouch closed the door to the balcony before changing to go to bed.

"You're one strange creature." Lelouch sighed, looking at Aldair who was already laying on his bed.

"Of course I'm strange. I don't even know why I talk!" Aldair said as Lelouch climbed under the blankets beside him.

"I don't either but now I'm finding Mr. Malachai somewhat normal."

"Oh, master Malachai always was a bit weird. That's why I'm this way."

Lelouch looked at him. "What? Mr. Malachai experimented with genetic mutation?"

"No, I was Master Malachai's first experiment with creation when he was ten."

"Come again?" said Lelouch confused.

"He was given a chance to experiment with creation when he was little, I was the result. I was almost destroyed immediately, but he promised the high council I'd behave myself. SO they let me exist."

"So the whole genetic mutation thing?"

"I was found in a lab overseas." said Aldair honestly.

"Right, so I'm now sharing my bed with an angelic creation gone wrong?"

"He was ten, he didn't know that anteaters didn't have teeth. He didn't know they were about half my size either." Aldair shrugged. "Now go to sleep. It's late."

"You're not my mother."

"No but I am you're elder. I'm nearly over fifty."

Lelouch was about to say something, but then he thought better of it, and he just rolled over, closed his eyes, and let himself drift off to sleep, Aldair quietly sleeping behind him, his long nose resting on Lelouch's shoulder for the rest of the night.

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Ginger:Okay chapter 14. I love Aldair, he's one of my favorite creations, I got the idea watching kingdom hospital. For those of you that don't know what that is, look up kingdom hospital and 'antubis.' It's some Stephen king show. Anyway, my usual thanks that goes out to my four favorite readers, :Digidreamer, Mirdorchi_chan, one sided pancake, and imaginedreams22. And if anyone has any confusion, feel free to ask. And no several reviews does not annoy me! They make me very happy to continue!


	15. A day with Roderick? Oh brother!

Disclaimer:I don't own code geass. Whatever. at least I own the Ashtor brothers and Kit! Ha ha!

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When Lelouch woke up the next morning, he slowly opened his eyes to see a long grey nose in his face.

"Geez Aldair!" Lelouch yawned, nudging the anteater. "A little close there."

"What? I just had my noise on your shoulder." Aldair said innocently as he hopped down off the bed.

Lelouch starred as Aldair stretched himself, opening his mouth in a loud roaring yawn.

"I don't think I'll ever get over that." he sighed, getting out of bed.

"Oh please, you're stuck we me so you best get used to it." said Aldair shaking himself to ruffle his fur.

Lelouch just shook his head with a sigh before changing and heading down for breakfast.

But he ran into Suzaku in the hallway.

"Did you sleep well last night Suzaku?" Lelouch asked with a smile as Suzaku yawned.

"Better than I have in a while. Jurri didn't drool on my pillow this time." Suzaku chuckled. "And what about you?"

"I woke up with Aldair's nose in my face." Lelouch sighed.

"It could've been worse, you could've woken up with Aldair's teeth in your face." said Suzaku with a shrug and a smile.

"Good point. Anyway, let's go get some breakfast, I'm hungry."

"Agreed."

So the two of them went downstairs into the kitchen where the found Leon munching on an apple, reading the paper.

"I was wondering when the two of you were going to get up." he said with a tiny smile. "I was about to come get you both myself."

"Why? It's not that late." said Lelouch. "It's only eight."

"Yes, but you see, you're spending the day with my brother." said Leon with a sly smile.

"Which brother?" asked Suzaku curiously.

"Roddy of course." he said pointing to Roderick who was sitting on the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"Why?" asked Lelouch a bit slowly.

"Because I've got a doctor's appointment, and Roddy wants to see if what helped me, will help you two as well."

"This won't end in me having some weird nick name will it?" Lelouch asked.

"What's weirder than Lulu?" Suzaku chuckled.

"Polar bear." said Lelouch pointing to Leon.

"Oh, I guess that is a bit weirder."

"Anyway, you two need to go get dressed because Roddy needs to get to work."

"And why are we going with him if he has to work?" asked Suzaku curiously.

"Because I got you two a nice interaction day with me." said Roddy with a grin.

"Interaction? With what?" asked Lelouch unsurely. "I mean, honestly I feel as if I've had enough strange interactions for one day thanks to the freak anteater that had his nose in my face this morning."

"And why is Aldair a freak exactly?" Roderick asked.

"Because he has teeth! Anteaters don't have teeth and they certainly don't have a roar like a lion! They don't normally talk either."

"Ohhhh, I always wondered why some of the other kids were afraid of him." said Roderick in an enlightened way.

"I didn't know he had teeth. Only that he talked." said Leon strangely. "He has teeth? Really?"

"Yes! And they've gotta be the scariest set of teeth I've ever seen! On anything! Even a saber tooth tiger didn't have teeth that long, and they definitely didn't have anywhere near as many."

"Where does he keep them?" Roderick asked in awe.

"Hell if I know. But he has them."

"I wouldn't doubt it, anyway, hurry up and go get dressed you two, you better get going."

So Lelouch and Suzaku turned around and headed upstairs to their rooms to get dressed, wondering what the day was about to bring.

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Ginger: Sorry about this chapter being so short, it's just a quickie filler chapter for the next one. What strange animal encounters will Lelouch and Suzaku have with Roderick? I'll give you a hint, one of them was mentioned in chapter 7! For the record though, this story's about over. Only a few chappies left. But fear not! A sequel will be started the day this one ends! I've already got it planned. Anyway, thanks to the usual: Digidreamer, midorchi_chan, imaginedreams22, and one sided pancake, also my friend Craig for the random review. ( he usually gives me his reviews at work). Thanks guys! You kept this story afloat!


	16. A scary uncle and a chilly new friend

Disclaimer: I don't own code geass.

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The car ride with Roderick had been…….. Interesting. The man was truly something else entirely. He was strange, he was odd, he was crazy, he was just all out weird and unusually cheery.

In simple terms: He was the complete opposite of Leon. Quite literally.

Soon the three of them were standing at the entrance in a place called Sea World.

"What is this place?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"It's an aquatic theme park. Leon's mum works at the one in Florida. She works with the killer whales and I'm so jealous! But I guess I can't complain." Roderick shrugged with a happy smile.

"Are you sure you're related to Leon?" Suzaku asked with a raised brow.

"Genetics and blood tests say yes, mentality says no. No, I really wonder. Honestly I do."

"Yeah well so do we." said Lelouch.

"So does everyone else so what do I care really?" Roderick said with a grin.

"Are you always this happy?" Suzaku asked.

"Yes! Though sometimes I think it's because Leon doesn't smile enough, so I have to be happy enough for the both of us. After all, he's grouchy enough for the both of us."

"He doesn't seem that grouchy." Suzaku admitted.

"That's cause Kit keeps him in line. Before Kit came into his life……. You don't want to know. Scary, scary, almost worse than Cameron Ashtor."

"I didn't know there was such a thing." said Suzaku as Lelouch just looked around in curiosity.

"So what are we supposed to be doing? I doubt you brought us here to stand and talk about why you're so unusually cheerful all day." Lelouch said.

"Right! Follow me!" said Roderick excitedly, then he broke out in an all out run.

"We might want to catch up." said Suzaku.

"Good idea." agreed Lelouch.

Then the two of them took off after him.

After a moment the two of them caught up with him in front of a building that said 'Wild Artic' on the front.

"Welcome to my work." said Roderick smiling with a bow.

"What is it?" Lelouch asked.

"Come with me. This is why we're here!" he said.

So they followed him into a back room, and it was then that Lelouch noticed what the back of Roderick's grey shirt said.

"Sea World, animal training." Lelouch read.

"Exactly! I managed to get special permission for this so I wouldn't have to pay for it." said Roderick leading them into the back. "That and it's considered therapeutic which is what Miss Sarah recommended for the two of you. After all the is a psychologist."

"Who's Miss Sara?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Mr. Midnightstar's girlfriend." said Suzaku.

"Oh. Wait, which one's?"

"Both Mr. Midnightstar's are Miss Sarah's boyfriends. Because Mr. Malachai doesn't show up enough. I'm sure Leon told you that they've pretty much become one person, right?" asked Roderick opening a back door into the building and leading them inside.

"Yeah but…….. I find that somewhat strange." Lelouch admitted looking around.

The room was quite simple. It had a carpeted floor and a table with several learning tools on it. But to their right was a big pane of glass and on the other side was…….

"Is that……. A real polar bear?" asked Suzaku in awe, looking at the sleeping bear, a hand on the glass.

"Yes that's a real polar bear. That's Charlie. He only wakes up when he knows food's nearby." said Roderick with a smile.

"Then apparently he thinks Suzaku's food." Lelouch chuckled as the polar bear woke up and stuck it's nose against the glass in front of Suzaku's face.

"I don't taste good I promise!" said Suzaku jumping away from the window.

"Hi Charlie!" said Roderick waving with a smile.

They watched as Charlie put his paw on the glass, as if in greeting.

"See, they say these animals don't understand English, but I beg to differ." said Roderick. "You understand me just fine don't you Charlie?"

The polar bear nodded.

"Does he normally interact with people like that?" Lelouch asked.

"No. He usually sits around and eats peanut butter out of a pumpkin before laying out in the sun to see how many people think he's adorable. He's a damn good actor I'll give him that. He even fools his own trainers into thinking he's just a lazy bear."

"So this is where all of the polar bears are?" Suzaku asked.

"When they're not out in their habitat. This is kind of their inside napping place."

"Does that mean Leon's out there because I don't see him in here." said Lelouch making Roderick laugh.

"Ha ha! I'm going to have to tell him about that one! That's funny! But no, he's not out there. Besides, he's the one polar bear you wouldn't want on display. He'd scare away the children the moment he bared his fangs."

"You two are terrible." said Suzaku shaking his head.

"I know, I'm a terrible jackass for picking on my dear twin like that aren't I?" Roderick said grinning.

"Just a bit." Suzaku admitted.

"I could do worse, trust me. I can be nasty when I feel like it." Roderick said. "Leon doesn't usually hear my most obnoxious comments. I at least attempt to behave around him."

"You're behaved around him? Then what was the other day before we went to the aquarium?" Lelouch asked.

"I like playing with my brother. I don't say the bad things around him though. I can be bad enough I can put Travis to shame."

"Ouch." said Lelouch with a wince. "That bad huh?"

"Travis cusses, I can be very crude around a few of my friends. Charlie's heard some of my more…… colorful comments. They were pretty bad, weren't they Charlie?"

The polar bear rested his chin on the floor before wrapping his gigantic paws over the top of his head, pinning down his ears as if he didn't want to hear.

"There's your answer."

"I don't even want to know what kind of jokes you're making if a polar bear is afraid to hear them." said Suzaku.

"You're a completely different person away from Leon aren't you?" Lelouch asked.

"I'm still cheery, I just had a social life which meant that I ended up with an occasionally dirty mindset. But like I said, I attempt to stay behaved around Leon. It's just tough considering my best friend since I was fifteen always had her mind in the gutter. The one Charlie heard just happened to be between the two of us."

Charlie stuck out his tongue.

"Oh please, it was cleaner than most jokes I tell around her." Roderick said. "It wasn't that bad!"

"Poor Charlie." Suzaku whispered in Lelouch's ear, making him chuckle.

"I heard that. Anyway, say goodbye to Charlie. We have other things to see today." said Roderick.

"Okay, Goodbye Charlie." said Lelouch waving to the polar bear.

"Yeah, bye Charlie." said Suzaku waving as well.

Charlie lifted up his paw in acknowledgment, then he stretched out and dozed off again.

"See, told you he was lazy." said Roderick leading them through another door.

"Or maybe you just scared him into thinking that you were going to tell another dirty joke that he didn't want to hear." said Lelouch.

"Oh touché my dear nephew! Touché!" Roderick laughed. "I can already tell Leon's going to regret letting the two of you come with me if you're matching my witty comments with your own."

"Witty? Witty isn't exactly the word I had in mind for your comments." Lelouch said smiling.

"You really have changed Lelouch." Suzaku said shaking his head.

"I'm sure I have." Lelouch admitted shrugging.

"You know, you two would make a cute couple." Roderick joked with a chuckle making Lelouch and Suzaku turn bright red.

"As if! I can assure you that I don't swing that way." Lelouch argued back. "But I think I've figured out which way _you _swing my dear uncle Roddy."

"Please! I hate to burst your little bubble, but I have a girlfriend."

"Really? Is she imaginary?"

"Nope. I believe she's a friend of yours. Nina?"

Suzaku and Lelouch stopped and starred at each other.

"Nina? What's she doing here?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't know. Mr. Midnightstar rescues the strangest people for the strangest reasons. He rescued the two of you, didn't he?"

"I didn't even need rescuing, I didn't die." Suzaku admitted.

"No, but I'm sure there was a reason." shrugged Roderick. "I don't even know why she ended up here. She's quite an intriguing young lady though, of that I can assure you."

"I'm amazed Nina would even be with a guy like you considering the comments you make." said Lelouch.

"Ha ha! But you see, there's more underneath that mild mannered exterior that I'm sure you've never seen. She could give me a run for my money if she wanted to, and she has."

"Nina? Nina Einstein? Are you sure?" Suzaku asked.

"Yes. She's about five and a half feet tall, wavy dark hair, big glasses, highly intelligent?"

"I wonder why Nina's here?" Lelouch said.

"Mr. Midnightstar's been adding more and more people every day. I think the most recent was some lady named Cecile Croomy."

AT that Suzaku's green eyes widened in shock.

"What would Miss Cecile be doing here? And if that's the case, I hope Lloyd didn't come with her."

"Who? Oh you mean the tall skinny sociopath who's quite obviously gay? I think Mr. Midnighstar found him a job in naval engineering." said Roderick.

"That wasn't the answer I was hoping for." sighed Suzaku as they followed Roderick down the hall.

"Well that's the answer you got!" Roderick laughed.

"I'm hoping this is our last trip with Uncle Roderick." Lelouch whispered as Roderick disappeared into a closet.

"No joke. He's a true nut job." Suzaku whispered back.

AS soon as Roderick came back out of the room, Lelouch and Suzaku each found themselves hit in the face with thick black rubber.

"Wet suits?" Lelouch said cautiously, holding his up.

"Yup! You're gonna want them, trust me, so I'd go change if I were you." he said pointing to a room opposite the closet.

Suzaku and Lelouch did as they were told, very unsure about what was going to happen.

After they had all changed Roderick led them out to the edge of a large tank where there were three large white things swimming around.

"Welcome to my version of therapy." Roderick chuckled, setting down a large bucket of fish.

"What are those things?" Suzaku asked, peeking over the edge.

"Beluga whales. My dear friends." said Roderick, jumping out onto a small platform. "Come on, if you don't get in now you'll never get used to it."

Lelouch tentatively tested the water and was not happy to find that it was absolutely freezing.

"It's ice water." he said with a shiver as Suzaku joined him.

"Of course. These whales come from the arctic." Roderick explained as they stood next to him. "Now I will admit there is one thing that Leon and I always agreed on here."

"And what's that?" asked Suzaku as Roderick walked in between them.

"Well that's quite simple really." said Roderick.

Before they had any idea what was going on, they both found themselves completely submersed for a second before Roderick pulled them both back out onto the platform, holding onto the back of their suits as they gasped for air.

"You jerk!" Lelouch snapped, taking a swing at Roderick who was laughing as he and Suzaku shivered uncontrollably, their teeth chattering. "That wasn't funny!"

"It was to me." Roderick chuckled, sitting in between them with the bucket of fish.

"If I told Leon, what would he do?" Lelouch asked.

"He'd probably beat my ass for messing with his newest son." Roderick shrugged with a smile. "But it's not like I really give a shit. We beat each other up anyway. Of course he usually wins. Oh well."

"You're not normal are you?" Suzaku asked.

"Nope. I'm quite crazy, almost on the brink of insanity, I'm a bit of a spaz, and I've been in a mental hospital twice because I scared my parents into thinking I was cheerfully psychotic."

Lelouch and Suzaku starred for a moment before they each moved away from Roderick.

"I'm kidding guys!" Roderick laughed. "I'm not that bad. I promise you. I just have adult ADHD, that's all. I'm a bit hyper, and I have a short attention span. I've never been in a mental hospital. I've never even had to see a psychiatrist. I'm not normal, and I'm a little crazy, but I'm perfectly sane. I just decide not to take my medicine unless I have to really focus on something boring. Sheesh, I really didn't mean it."

"Why do we not believe you?" Lelouch asked.

"Believe what you will." Roderick shrugged, slapping the water with his palm, the bucket of fish in his lap.

Soon two whales swam up to look at him.

"Hi girls. Did you miss me this weekend?" Roderick asked them with a smile.

Both whales nodded as they let out high pitched whistles and tweets.

"Well I missed you girls too, so I brought friends to play with today."

Lelouch couldn't help but feel the childish curiosity return as he moved a little closer to get a good look at the whales.

"These two are Nanuq and Allua." said Roderick pointing each one out. "Frederick's the boy."

Suzaku leaned in for a closer look just to have Nanuq hit him in the face with a mouth full of water.

Roderick laughed. "Be nice Nanuq." he chided. "He's family. He's not any stranger than I am."

"Don't start compairing us, I'm no where near as strange as you." said Suzaku. "Troubled? Yes. Depressed? Absolutely. A complete nut job? I think not."

"True, true." he agreed with a nod. "So, which one of you want's to say hello first?"

"Will I get spit at?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Not unless she feels like it." Roderick admitted. "Here, lean forward, turn your head, and tap your cheek with a finger."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Lelouch did as he was told just to have a soft, wet and rubbery nose touch his cheek before Roderick let out a short blow on his high pitched whistle.

"There. Now you can say you've been kissed by a beluga." he said, tossing a fish into Allua's mouth.

"Yet another unusual thing to add to my list of life long accomplishments." Lelouch admitted.

"See Belugas give little pecks. Killer whales give sloppy kisses. They can cover your whole face with their tongue."

"Somehow that just doesn't sound like the kind of kiss I want." Suzaku admitted.

"That's because you'd rather have your first kiss from Euphie." Lelouch said with a smile, making Suzaku turn bright red.

"This coming from the guy that's been kissed by three of his best friends." said Suzaku sending a wall of water in Lelouch's face.

Lelouch coughed and spluttered a little just to have Nanuq flip and use her tail to send more water in his direction.

"That's not fair." Lelouch said, trying to wipe the water off his face as Roderick laughed.

Allua then splashed Suzaku as if in Lelouch's defense.

"Well I'm glad to see the two of you connecting with the girls so well." said Roderick smiling. "Anyway, if you don't want a kiss Suzaku, you can always get a hug."

"A hug? How do they give hugs?"

"Simple, just hold your arms out like this." said Roderick demonstrating and holding out his arms in a ring.

Suzaku imitated and Nanuq snuggled up in a way, also kissing his cheek.

"I guess she wanted her kiss too." Roderick said with a smile, tossing a fish her way.

But Nanuq spit it out hitting Roderick square in the face, making Lelouch and Suzaku laugh.

"Now that wasn't very nice." Roderick huffed. "What? You'd rather have Suzaku give you the fish?"

Nanuq nodded.

"Fine, but you didn't have to spit it in my face." he said handing Suzaku a fish.

"Ugh! It's slimy." Suzaku muttered, putting it in her mouth.

"Of course it is Suzaku, it's a dead fish." said Roderick as if it was obvious. "Why don't you try and tickle her?"

"They're ticklish?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Well they act like it anyway." Roderick shrugged. "All you have to do is lightly scratch the top of their noggin."

Lelouch tentatively reached out and gently scratched the top of Allua's head making her let out a series of chirps as she flipped her tail flukes like a tickled person would laugh and kick their legs.

"Her head feels weird." said Suzaku.

"That's because that's her melon which is really just a protective layer of fat." Roderick explained.

Lelouch just looked down at his newest friend who spit water in his face.

"Hey! That's not nice." Lelouch said, splashing back.

Just to have her spit again.

"She's playing with you. She really likes you." Roderick laughed.

"At least Nanuq doesn't bite me like Arthur." Suzaku admitted.

"If you really want to be her best friend, let her put her flipper in your lap and then you rub it really fast."

Suzaku did so just to have her squeak in happiness.

"You're making her so happy I didn't even need the bucket of fish." said Roderick smiling.

Lelouch watched as Allua disappeared underneath the water.

"What's she doing?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"She's making bubble rings. We just recently taught them how to make them."

"I can't tell."

"Can you open your eyes in salt water?" Roderick asked.

"I believe so, why?"

"Here, I promise I won't let go." Roderick said getting a firm grasp on the back of Lelouch's suit.

"Wait a minute! What are you going to do?"

"Just take a deep breath."

Lelouch did so right as Roderick pushed him off the edge and held him just underneath the surface. He opened his eyes to see a blurry Allua and several bubble rings coming out of her mouth as she floated with her face inches in front of him. Despite his better judgment, he couldn't help but smile when she touched noses with him. Then he kissed her nose feeling happiness bubble inside him in the same way Allua's bubbles floated to the surface.

After a few more seconds Roderick pulled him back out and onto the platform.

"Normally we don't take the interaction that far, but I figured it was in your best interest." Roderick said with a smile.

"Giving Allua an underwater kiss is much better than comparing myself to a cuttlefish." Lelouch admitted, shaking his head before running a hand through his wet hair.

"And you're smiling more than ever." Roderick said. "I told you, this is a more……… interesting version of therapy. This is what my dear brother went through. When Miss Jamie couldn't melt the ice on his heart, the killer whales did. She helped Mr. Midnightstar get permission to send several of his adoptees here for that exact reason. Because it's been proven that when human's can't get through to those kids, these animals can."

Lelouch just grinned as Suzaku and Nanuq touched forehead to melon with smiles and chirps.

And that was just the beginning to a very fascinating friendship for Lelouch and Suzaku with their two newest friends.

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Ginger: Aww...... what an adorable new friendship. now granted, the beluga interactions really aren't taken that far, but I figured for Lelouch's purpose he needed a more....... in depth interaction with his new friend. And now we find out just how scary our dear Roderick Spencer really is! *evil laugh* Anyway, thanks to the usuals! Digimon dreamer, midorchi_chan, imaginedreams22, and one sided pancake.


	17. Little Mercy and Welcomed Understanding

Disclaimer: I don't own code geass, so what else is new?

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After about an hour, the three dried off and changed back into their regular clothes.

Lelouch couldn't help but feel a little more lighthearted and cheery thanks to Allua and Suzaku's depression seemed to slowly disappear with Nanuq's help.

"Well now, that was fun wasn't it?" Roderick asked with a smile as they walked back into the park itself.

"You know, months ago, I figured that there was really nothing left for my life. I guess I was proven wrong." Lelouch admitted with a smile.

"Not like that's really a bad thing in this case." Suzaku said with a smile as Roderick's phone rang.

"No, I suppose not." Lelouch said as Roderick walked a few feet away so he could talk on the phone.

"I wonder if Mr. Berkenbridge has any idea of just how insane his brother really is." Suzaku said .

"I wouldn't doubt it if he does. Uncle Roderick's something else, that's for sure." Lelouch agreed. Then he saw a bunch of people surrounded around a small habitat a few feet away. "Hey, what's over there?"

The two of them walked over as Roderick continued to talk on the phone.

It was a small island like habitat covered in trees and bushes and surrounded by water.

"Are those…….. Penguins?" Suzaku asked surprised. "I thought they lived in icy water.

"Apparently these guys come from south America." said Lelouch pointing to a sign which read 'Magellanic penguins,' and showed that they came from the coasts of Chili and Argentina. "It says they're a warm weather penguin."

"Oh, I didn't know there was such a thing. Normally when you think penguin, you think icebergs and walruses." Suzaku admitted.

"Yeah, I'm kind of surprised too."

Then Roderick walked over to join them."

"Mr. Midnighstar has brought a new friend to join us, so we need to go meet them up front." he said.

"A new friend? Who?" asked Lelouch.

"I don't know. It's a little girl. One of the most recent rescuees. So we might as well go get her now. They're waiting."

"This means you're going to have to behave." Lelouch said with a smile.

"Oh gee, whatever will I do if I can't make any dirty jokes?" Roderick said sarcastically with a smile. "I'm perfectly happy with that."

So the three of them headed to the front together where they found Quatre Midnightstar standing in his flight suit waiting, but they didn't see anyone else around him.

Though Lelouch had to admit he felt better only seeing Quatre and his kind blue eyes as opposed to Mr. Malachai with his yellow eyes and crest of blood.

"So where's this little girl?" Roderick asked.

Quatre smiled and leaned a little to the side so that they could see the little girl with blonde curls and bright blue eyes behind small wire rimmed glasses that was trying to hide behind his legs.

"This is Mercy. She's not exactly the outgoing type. So far she's worse than Kit. Even I can't get a word out of her. The only thing I managed to get was her name. Her parents died in a car accident and she was left all alone with no other family." Quatre explained.

Lelouch looked at the little girl in curiosity as Roderick and Quatre talked, just to notice that she was regarding him with just as much interest as he was with her.

Roderick and Quatre paused in the middle of their conversation as Mercy came out from her hiding place and skipped over to Lelouch, smiling up at him.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully.

"Hello there." said Lelouch kneeling down to her level and returning the smile.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Lelouch."

Mercy giggled. "Like the emperor that died back home." she said surprising them. "You look like him too."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked her.

"I think it's a good thing. Nobody liked him, but my daddy said he wasn't really as mean as he made everyone think. Daddy told me that since the world wouldn't agree to be nice to each other, the emperor forced them to agree. That's what my daddy said anyway." she shrugged smiling. "So…… it's like he did something bad to make something good happen. Does that make sense?"

Lelouch couldn't help but smile. "That makes perfect sense Mercy." he said. "At least, it does to me anyway."

Mercy giggled even more. "I like you." she said. "You understand me."

"It nice to have people understand you, isn't it?" Lelouch said with a smile.

"Yes it is." said Mercy smiling. "Will you be my friend Lelouch?"

"I would be more than happy to be your friend Mercy." Lelouch admitted, happy to find someone that actually understood what he had been trying to get across in his plans, even if she was only seven or eight years old. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven years old." she said proudly.

"Well I'm glad to see that you talk Mercy." Quatre said with a smile. "Kit said you did, but I had yet to hear you."

Mercy giggled and jumped into Lelouch's arms.

"I like Lelouch for some reason." she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck as he picked her up.

"Well that's good because you'll be spending the rest of your day with him and Suzaku."

Mercy turned to Suzaku and smiled. "Hi Suzaku." she said with a tiny wave.

"Hello Mercy." said Suzaku smiling back.

"Anyway, I'll leave you four alone, I need to get to work." said Quatre. "Have fun Mercy."

"Bye bye Mr. Midnighstar."

After Quatre had left they had gotten onto the subject of what to do next.

"Are there penguins here Mr. Spencer?" Mercy asked. "I love penguins."

"Then I suppose we should head back to the penguins." Roderick shrugged. Then he looked at his watch. "I believe we have enough time to see them and grab some lunch before we have to meet Lisa."

"Who's Lisa?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"She works with the dolphins." said Roderick. "We have to meet her at two, so let's go see the penguins for Mercy now."

So the four of them went back to where they were, only this time they went inside the building that sat behind the Magellanic penguin's habitat.

Watching the penguins swim with Mercy by his side made him feel like Kit was with him. Mercy's giggles and smiles were just as infectious if not more.

"Hey! Look at that one Lelouch! He's fuzzy!" Mercy giggled pointing to a penguin that was quite obviously molting.

"He's molting Mercy. He's loosing his feathers so he can grow new ones." Lelouch explained.

"Ohhh! I didn't know that they lost their feathers." she said in curiosity. "Why?"

"I don't know that." he admitted with a shrug as they stepped off the moving walkway behind Suzaku and Roderick.

"Then how'd you know what molting was?"

"Because I learned it in school. I can't remember why though."

"Are you in school now?"

"No. It's summer vacation here I guess, but even then, I spent so many months out of school back home. Not like it matters, I'm so far behind on my history in this world anyway……" he paused realizing his was rambling.

"Oh, Well, Mr. Midnightstar said I get to go to school with Kit since he's my bestest friend here." she said. "I get to stay with Kit and his daddy."

"That means you're stuck with me too. I guess Suzaku's staying at the Sanctuary and he's only here for a few days."

"Oh, so you're staying with Kit's daddy too?"

"Kit's daddy decided to adopt me instead of Mr. Midnightstar." Lelouch admitted. "I guess they both decided that it would be best for me if I stayed with him instead of going to the sanctuary."

"Ohhhhhh. Ooooh! What's that?!" Mercy asked gleefully running over to another habitat.

"Puffins." said Roderick smiling as Mercy looked at them in curiosity.

"Awww! They're so cute!" she said cheerfully.

Lelouch and Suzaku just chuckled at each other as Mercy ran back and forth following the little puffin that was racing through the water.

"Alright, I know you love the penguins and puffins Mercy but we should go eat lunch before it gets any later." Roderick said kindly.

"Awww…… okay." she sighed disappointedly.

"I'll tell you what Mercy, if you're good, I'll buy you a stuffed penguin to take home, how does that sound?" Lelouch said, deciding to start spoiling his new little sister early, just like he had done with Nunnally, and like he planned on doing with Kit.

"Oh, you don't have to." she said honestly.

"I want to." Lelouch admitted, picking her up as they walked out of the building.

"He spoils his younger siblings." Suzaku admitted to her with a smile.

"You look really familiar." Mercy admitted, looking at Suzaku as she leaned her head against Lelouch's shoulder.

"That's because he was my knight Mercy." Lelouch admitted. "So usually when someone saw me, they saw him too."

Mercy's eyes opened wide in curiosity. "How could he be your knight? You don't have such a thing here"

"I was the emperor that nobody liked Mercy." Lelouch admitted.

"Oh wow!" she whispered in awe. Then she frowned slightly. "So, was my daddy right? You just acted mean to make everyone agree?"

"He had it pretty much figured out. Now granted, it did go a little deeper than that but it sounds like your daddy figured out the overall basics."

"So……. You weren't gonna have all those people killed?"

"Absolutely not. They were my friends. I didn't actually want to hurt them. But I didn't want them to know what was going on either. I just wanted the world to think of me as a very nasty, very scary guy." he admitted. "Then I had Suzaku here kill me. Well, _try_ to kill me anyway, as you can see that didn't go according to plan. Who was your daddy anyway Mercy?"

"My daddy used to work at the palace. But I guess he knew you when you were little. He said you didn't seem the type to start a war without a reason and that you were faithful to your friends. So I guess daddy figured there was a reason for you to do what you did. He also said you probably don't remember him though cause you were really little."

"How did he know I didn't actually take a turn for the worse?"

"I don't know!" Mercy shrugged smiling. "I don't know how my daddy thought. I just believed what he told me."

"I guess that's a fair enough explanation." Lelouch shrugged.

"So if you didn't die, what happened?" Mercy asked.

"I don't really know. I just remember waking up here, wondering if I was dead. Leon said I was unconscious for over three weeks. AS for what happened during that time, I have absolutely no idea." he admitted.

"Oh, see Mr. Midnighstar found me on the street after my daddy died, I didn't have a mommy. I guess he felt bad for me." Mercy shrugged.

"Well considering that he adopted Kit's daddy after he tried to pick pocket his wallet as a little kid, Mr. Midnighstar seems to feel sorry for a lot of us."

"Well I think it's a good thing. Not very many people care like he does."

"That's very true Mercy." Lelouch agreed with a nod.

The two of them continued their conversation until they sat to eat lunch.

After lunch Roderick agreed to let Mercy spend twenty minutes in the playground which resulted in Lelouch tumbling head over heels when he tripped on the rope bridge making Mercy and Suzaku laugh as they tried to help him up.

The rest of the day went by quickly as the three of them made new friends during very interesting interactions including one with a dolphin that knew exactly where Roderick's ticklish spot was making everyone laugh as be burst out laughing when the dolphin continuously poked him in the side, tickling him.

After that it wasn't long before it was time for them to start heading home, Mercy sitting beside Lelouch in the backseat hugging the new penguin he had gotten her as he promised.

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Ginger:Okay guys, sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I've just been super busy and super tired lately between work and school, and if Midorchi_Chan's wondering why I know so much about training, I work at sea world as a vendor and I'm going to school to become a trainer. There's my explanation. Anyway, thanks to my usual group. Like I said, I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting!


	18. A devil's temper and a cheery evening

Disclaimer: I don't own code geass.

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When Roderick had finally dropped the three kids off, it was nearly eight at night and Lelouch had to admit it felt good to be home as he led Mercy into the house, holding her hand.

The first thing they heard was Leon's voice as he talked with someone in the kitchen.

Sure enough they found Leon in the kitchen cutting up vegetables and standing beside him was a woman in a uniform much like Travis's, only she had a skirt and her shirt was quite obviously feminine.

"We're gone for one day and you find yourself a girlfriend?" Lelouch asked with a smile.

"Oh ha ha," Leon muttered sarcastically. "No, this is Second Lieutenant Millameton. The hospital required that someone keep an eye on me after I was knocked out on the sidewalk this afternoon and since she was the one that knocked me over she volunteered. Well, that and she's known me for several years."

"Hi, you can call me Sahara." the woman said cheerfully. "And I've known him long enough that he can't scare me away like he would if some random nurse was forced to watch over him."

"I heard you can rival Cameron Ashtor in temper." said Suzaku.

"I've had enough of that grouchy bastard for one day." Leon growled. "He quickly learned why I was known throughout Aberystwyth as the child with the devil's temper."

The three of them starred and Sahara pointed behind them.

Lelouch turned around to see a white officer's hat pinned to the wall with a large kitchen knife. He walked over and managed to yank the knife out, but it had been thrown with enough force that it had broken through the small metal anchor on the front, snapped the stiff cardboard in the top and gone out the back, the blade buried about two inches into the wall.

"That's definitely his hat." Suzaku admitted. "What did he do?"

"He was just being an annoying jackass that wanted to pick a fight with his brothers and when I told him to go home, he attempted to pick a fight with me like the fucking idiot that he is."

Lelouch and Suzaku gave each other somewhat worried glances.

They both knew that Cameron must have really worked to provoke him because Leon was usually the type that would refrain from using foul language.

Lelouch felt Mercy tug on the bottom of his shirt and he looked down to have her motion for him to kneel so she could whisper to him.

"Is Mr. Berkenbridge normally this grouchy cause Kit said his daddy's actually really nice." she whispered.

"Well he usually is." Lelouch admitted softly.

"Leon, smile a little." Sahara said. "You're scaring the poor little girl."

Leon paused then looked down at Mercy before turning bright red in embarrassment as his glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose.

"Oh. I'm sorry Mercy. I don't normally act like this." he admitted.

"That's what Kit said. I was kinda wondering if you were his daddy or not."

"Well yes I'm Kit's daddy, I just had a rough day." Leon sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't like doctors and I was stuck at the hospital for four hours. I was already pretty grouchy."

"Grouchy? You looked like you were about to smack the doctor that tried to put that needle in you." said Sahara with a smile.

"I don't like needles." he muttered with a childish pout on his face. "Anyway, I'm guessing the three of you had a good day?"

"We learned just how insane Uncle Roddy really is." Lelouch admitted.

"Yeah, he's a bit over the top. I suppose you've discovered how he really is without me around?"

"Did you know…….?" Suzaku paused.

"That he's got a cheerfully dirty mind?" Leon finished, turning back to the vegetables. "Actually I did. He tries to hide it from me, but considering the way his friends are I figured he'd end up close to the same. Natalie was always the worst. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice girl, she never causes any trouble, and she's quite respectful, but some of her jokes are absolutely terrible."

Lelouch and Suzaku couldn't help but smile a little and laugh.

"I also heard something about you making a joke about me not being in the polar bear exhibit Lelouch." said Leon with a tiny smile and a raised brow.

Lelouch turned a little red in embarrassment as Suzaku smiled and Leon chuckled.

"It's fine though, I'm sure Roddy's answer to it was even worse." Leon shrugged.

"He said you're the kind of polar bear that they wouldn't want to put on display because you'd scare away all of the little kids the moment you bared your fangs." Lelouch admitted.

Sahara laughed as Leon sighed and rolled his eyes.

"He's got a point Commander." Sahara said with a smile.

"Yes, well, I always did say Roddy belonged in a zoo with the rest of the monkeys like him." Leon admitted making them all laugh.

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Lelouch was happy being home, feeling comfortable again. Mercy and even Sahara seemed to fit into the family perfectly.

Dinner was incredibly cheerful, even though Kit had decided to stay at his grandfather's house.

But through it all, despite the insanity of the side of the family that he had already met, he had to admit, there was a random sense of familiarity and comfort that he had just never encountered before and he absolutely loved it.

He had taken to spending at least twenty minutes out on his balcony every night before bed, just to help himself relax from the craziness of the day.

But this time he was joined by someone new.

Mercy leaned against him on his left, and Aldair was on his right, resting his nose on Lelouch's leg as the three of them sat on his swing together, pointing out the stars until it was time for them all to go to bed.

"Now really Mercy, can't you sleep in Kit's bed tonight since he's not here?" Lelouch asked smiling as she curled up between him and Aldair underneath the blankets.

"But I wanna sleep in here Lelouch!" Mercy admitted.

"I didn't think we could all fit in this bed." Aldair said curling up at their feet.

Lelouch just sighed as he pulled the blanket up to his chin and tried to get comfortable with Mercy beside him.

"Hey Lelouch?" Mercy asked softly.

"Hmmm?"

"I'm glad my daddy said I could trust you." she said cuddling with him.

"I don't know why though. I will admit, sometimes I think I really was on the brink of insanity." he muttered.

"But you're okay now, right?"

"Getting there I suppose." Lelouch shrugged. "I guess that's why they've decided to put me in therapy. To make sure I'm okay and I stay that way."

"If it calmed the man with the demon's temper, it can calm you." Aldair said, resting his nose on his paws.

"I guess." Lelouch said with a yawn, making Mercy giggle.

Mercy leaned over and kissed his nose.

"Night night Lelouch." she said with a smile.

"Goodnight Mercy." he said , then he let himself quietly drift off to sleep.

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Ginger: Okay guys! Sorry that the chapters are getting worse. But only one and a half chappies left! Then it's over becuase I can't figure out how to just run it all in one story. There will be a sequal probably posted the night this one ends. So to my usual readers, thanks guys and I can't wait for your reviews in the next story that follows this!


	19. Sanctuary closets? Sounds a bit odd huh?

Disclaimer: I don't own code geass, yada, yada, yada.

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"Lelouch! Mercy! Time to get up!" came Leon's voice through the door, waking Lelouch.

"Time to get up already?" Lelouch yawned stretching out as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"Time to get up? Ugh!" Mercy grumbled, poking her head out from underneath the blanket, her hair in a mess.

"I guess so Mercy." Lelouch sighed, climbing out of bed.

Mercy just muttered something as she pulled the blanket over her head.

So Lelouch went and got dressed before getting Mercy up so they could head downstairs for breakfast.

"No more surprises today, right Leon?" Lelouch yawned as they sat at the table.

"Afraid so. You get to meet the rest of the family today Lelouch." said Leon.

Lelouch just shook his head with another yawn as he poked at his fruit.

"Fine." he muttered . Then he paused as if he had just registered what he had been told. "The rest of the family? You mean the other thirty some odd brothers and sisters?"

"Well technically speaking, now they're all your aunts and uncles, but yes. We're going to spend the day at the Sanctuary."

"I guess it can't be that bad." Lelouch shrugged.

"It could be worse, they could all be really mean and scary." said Suzaku.

"Yeah, at least everyone's nice." added Mercy.

"This coming from the one who refused to talk and the one that was so overwhelmed he locked himself in his room." Lelouch said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, I still had no idea what was going on or how I got here at the time." Suzaku admitted with a shrug.

"I wanna go play with Kit and Tara!" said Mercy, eating her fruit and bouncing excitedly.

"Yes Mercy, you can go play with Kit and Tara." said Leon smiling.

"Yay!"

"As soon as Lelouch and Suzaku finish their breakfast." he said watching the two of them slowly eat their cereal.

"Hurry up guys! I wanna go play!" said Mercy making them laugh.

"So how hard is it to remember everyone's names?" Lelouch asked.

"Some stick better than other's if only because some of them are pretty unusual." Suzaku admitted. "Like Izzy and Shyla."

"Izzy?"

"My little sister Isabella." said Leon with a smile.

"Izzy's funny too." Mercy giggled.

"So what's the sanctuary like anyway?" Lelouch asked.

"It's a very different place that's for sure. Weird things happen there too." said Suzaku with a curious look.

Lelouch seemed interested. "Weird things? Like what?"

"Like when I opened my closet door I found myself starring at an elephant and it's herd on the African Plains. It was kinda freaky. Especially when it reached through my door and patted my head with it's trunk." he said strangely.

"That was nothin'!" giggled Mercy. "I opened my closet door and I saw the Eifel tower in Paris! It was really cool!"

"Better than my adventure." said Leon. "When I was nineteen, I ended up a part of an Army unit during the D-Day invasion. I was almost killed like…….. Ten times! Dad swears I was only there for a couple hours, but I've got six months worth of memories and pictures to go with it. That's where Braydon came from. He followed me home like a lost puppy."

"So……. What? Is it a home full of magical closets? I mean, seriously, how does that happen?" Lelouch asked.

"You've been brought here from another world, yet closet portals to other places seems farfetched to you?" Leon asked smiling.

"I don't think this family is anything short of farfetched honestly." Lelouch said.

"Well you think the family itself is weird, the Sanctuary itself makes us seem normal." Leon said. "Actually you'll probably have a room of your own for when you decide to go visit sometimes."

"And what will I find in the closet? A pride of Lions or the Sydney opera house?" Lelouch asked.

"Who knows? It changes all the time." Leon shrugged. "Now are you two done yet so we can get going?"

Lelouch and Suzaku nodded before they picked up their dishes and took them into the kitchen.

After that it wasn't long before they were all in the truck on the way to Midnighstar Sanctuary.

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Ginger: Sorry about the really short crappy chapter. This last chapter is going to be the grand finalie for this story so I promise it'll be way better than my last two filler chapers. Thanks for keeping me going guys!


	20. Finaly home

Disclaimer: I don't own code geass and I've run out of little comments to go with this.

Ginger: Okay guys! I've finally done it! Last chapter! Wooo!

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Lelouch couldn't help but feel awe and a fluttery feeling in his stomach as they drove up to a monstrous mansion on a small peninsula like stretch of beach.

The place was huge. There was a large front to the building then what looked like two separate wings, each with over twenty windows and a magnificent view of the ocean.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Lelouch whispered in awe.

"That's because there's so many kids here, there has to be a place to put them all." said Suzaku with a smile.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Now you get to meet the rest of the family." said Leon as they pulled into the driveway. "Just remember, they don't mean to overwhelm, they all just want to make you feel welcome."

"I'll remember that." said Lelouch.

After a few minutes they were all met at the door by Quatre.

But Lelouch felt somewhat abandoned as Suzaku and Mercy ran off with smiles leaving him with Leon and Quatre in the hall.

"Come on Lelouch, everyone's outside playing." said Quatre smiling kindly.

Lelouch cautiously followed behind both men as they talked. He looked around at everything in pure curiosity and he couldn't help but feel somewhat overwhelmed already. The place was huge but very cozy, all of the walls were covered in pictures. There was one wall though, that stretched down a long hallway to the right that was covered in bright paint, handprints, and pictures.

"What's down there?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"That's what we like to call the progress wall." said Quatre as Lelouch walked down the hall a little to see what was there.

"The progress wall?"

"It's our way of measuring both physical growth and mental health." Quatre explained. "Each month we measure all of the kids and take a picture to put next to the current measurement along with a handprint. If you notice, in a lot of the pictures the lowest ones show how they used to be, very unhappy, but as they grew and progressed they're pictures became much happier."

Lelouch looked at a chart for Kit.

It had Kit's full name and it showed that he had grown nearly six inches since he had arrived. The bottom picture showed a very shy, unhappy little boy, the current picture was that of a very happy kid with a big grin.

"Ouch, poor Kit. Who named him?" asked Lelouch curiously. "Khristopher Korringthander Kannington Kristopherson? That's terrible!"

"Hence why we just call him Kit." said Leon with a smile.

Lelouch walked down the wall looking at everyone in curiosity, and at the very end, was Leon.

The bottom picture was at age seven with a very unhappy, angry little boy that turned away from the camera, four and a half feet tall. Each month added nearly three inches until stopped at age thirteen, where there were pictures of his current progress as well as a new hand print every year.

"You looked like one scary little kid." said Lelouch with a smile.

"That's because I was a scary little kid." Leon admitted.

Lelouch continued looking at everyone, some of the children had yet to finish growing, others were well into their thirties with careers. But there were people missing. Besides him and Mercy, Suzaku had yet to claim a spot. The wall ended right at Shirley.

"How long as Suzaku been here?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Two weeks. So he doesn't have a spot yet. That's why Leon brought you guys today. It's the end of May and time for everyone to see how much they've grown. That way you, Suzaku and Mercy can have your spots too." said Quatre with a smile.

"But Suzaku and I won't grow very much." Lelouch said with a grin.

"Well you'd be surprised, boys don't really stop growing till about twenty one. With luck you two might grow another couple of inches." Quatre explained. "How tall was your father?"

"I don't know, a lot bigger than me, that's for sure. But I don't want to be like him. He made Leon look skinny!"

"Ouch. That's pretty bad." Leon said with a wince. "I'm big enough as it is. I weigh nearly a hundred pounds more than my own twin brother."

"Yes, but there are reasons for that." Quatre said, gently patting Leon's shoulder.

Watching the two Lelouch finally got curious. "Mr. Midnightstar, how old are you?" he asked.

"Do you want my true age or my physical age?"

"I didn't know there was a difference." Lelouch said with a raised brow.

"In our family there can be." he admitted.

"Well what's your physical age?"

"Twenty eight."

"That's it?"

"Yes but you have to remember that I nearly died. Executed by the prime minister at the time when a Lieutenant Bartley sold me out for a higher rank."

Lelouch starred. "Then what's your real age? What's your real name for that matter?"

"I'm General Quatre Ryan Croomy and I am currently at age sixty seven. My daughter Cecile was born when I was thirty eight, and I was executed at age fifty four."

"Wait, Cecile Croomy is your daughter?"

"You forget I am a Britannian." said Quatre with a smile.

"Anything else I should know about this family before something causes me to have a heart attack?" Lelouch asked.

"Did you tell him about the closets?" Quatre asked Leon.

"Suzaku mentioned he found a herd of elephants in his." said Leon smiling.

"Yeah, about that, how is that possible?" Lelouch asked.

"Ask Malachai, he's the one that did it." said Quatre. "Let's see, what else is there? Oh yes, Sapphire."

"Aldair told me about your faithful tiger." Lelouch admitted.

"That's right, how are you and Aldair getting along?"

"We're working on it. He makes me seem normal and I didn't think that was possible." Lelouch sighed. "So there's nothing here that could eat me right?"

"Well they could, but they won't." Quatre chuckled. "Except Cameron maybe."

"Oh ha ha you fucking Bastard. Shut up and leave me out of the damn mess you call a family." Came a nasty growl behind Lelouch.

Lelouch jumped a bit and starred at the man before him.

He had Quatre's blond hair and matching blue eyes, but his facial features matched Travis's and he was wearing a white dress uniform that was missing its hat.

"I'm going to assume this is Cameron." Lelouch said, slowly backing away.'

"Brilliant deduction!" the man snapped.

"Cameron, where's your cover?" Quatre sighed.

"Your damn devil child there pinned it to his wall with a fuckin' butcher knife the other night!"

Quatre suddenly laughed. "What'd you do to piss him off Cameron? You know it takes a lot to bring out that temper."

"He was trying to fight with Ashtor and Travis and when I told him to go home he tried to pick a fight with me." Leon explained. "I really wanted to stab him, I just happened to miss."

"How'd he even get out of the sanctuary?" Malachai asked, appearing beside Quatre. "He was supposed to be trapped here."

Lelouch quickly began to feel unsure about what was going on so he quietly slid behind Leon who just smiled down at him.

"If there's anyone to be scared of it'd only be Cameron I can assure you." Leon whispered softly. "Anyway, why don't you go outside and play with the others while we resolve this mess?"

"Umm…. Okay." he said, the he walked out of the hallway, leaving the four men to argue. "Now which way is outside? I don't even remember where I am in this house." he said walking down to the end of the hallway.

After a quick turn left then another, he saw the living room which was full of couches, bean bags, and large pillows, and beyond that was a set of glass sliding doors.

So he walked through the room and cautiously walked out the door where he found what resembled a circus.

There were children everywhere. There was a gigantic swing set, much like the ones found in a schoolyard playground and all eight swings were full, there was a line of small children on the slide, and several more playing on a merry go round. At least ten kids were on the gigantic jungle gym, and many of the older kids were supervising as they chatted by a cluster of picnic tables.

"Geez, it's like an elementary school playground on the beach." Lelouch muttered to himself.

"Well suffice it to say, just a small backyard playground wouldn't cut it for thirty children." came a woman's kind voice and a small growl.

Lelouch turned his head to see no one beside him, then he looked down to see a large white tiger looking up at him.

"Good thing someone warned me about you." he sighed making her laugh.

"After meeting Aldair, am I really that much of a surprise?" she asked smiling.

"I guess not." he shrugged. He jumped a little when she nudged his hand with her nose, before rubbing against it. "What? You like to be scratched behind the ears?"

"Of course I do." she giggled.

Lelouch just obliged and gently rubbed behind the short round ears making her growl cheerfully.

"Are you going to go play?" Sapphire asked.

"No, I think I'm fine here."

"But even Suzaku's playing."

Lelouch looked up to see Suzaku sitting in the middle of the spinning merry-go-round with a little boy that had to of been around two years old in his lap, surrounded by other kids, as two of the older brothers ran around the outside spinning it faster. He felt a little awkward though when he realized who the blonde brother was.

"Is that……. Gino Weinberg?" he asked slowly.

"He's quite the cheery one. He's much like Roderick. They get along quite well."

"Anyone else from my world that I should know about?" he asked.

"Hmmm….. There's Lloyd, Cecile, Gino, Suzaku, Euphie, Shirley, Nina, Anya, Kallen……. I think that's about it."

"Anya and Kallen? They're here too? It's almost like home only everyone's getting along."

"True." Sapphire agreed. "That and they're all happy and smiling. Gino and Kallen make a cute couple."

"So it seems." said Lelouch, watching as Kallen pounced on Gino in a hug after he had stopped spinning the Merry-Go- round. "Who's the kid that was spinning the merry go round with Gino?"

"That's Trowa. He's visiting from Florida." she explained.

"Oh, okay." was all he could say. Then he laughed when Suzaku climbed off the Merry-Go-Round, and tumbled into the sand, swaying a bit from the dizziness. After a moment he sat down on the patio next to Sapphire, gently scratching the back of her neck.

"You're aren't going to go play?" she asked.

"I'm good. It looks like they're all happy enough without me."

"I'm sure they'd be even happier with you."

"Happier? I don't know if that's possible." Lelouch said with a smile.

"But I don't think they'll let you have a choice in the matter." said Sapphire as Suzaku ran over with Mercy.

"Come on Lelouch, come play." said Suzaku, a huge grin on his face.

"I'm good sitting right here Suzaku." he said.

"But we want you to come play!" said Mercy.

"But I don't want to interrupt."

"Interrupt?" Suzaku laughed. "You can't interrupt pure chaos. At this point all you can do is contribute to it. Come on!"

Lelouch couldn't help but laugh as Suzaku tried to tug him to his feet with Mercy's help. "Alright! Alright! I'll come play!" he said laughing as he stood up.

Suzaku and Mercy then led him into the sand where everyone quickly gathered around and introduced themselves.

There were so many names Lelouch felt his head start to spin.

Along with Suzaku, Nina, Gino, Kallen, Suzaku, Euphie, Mercy, Kit, Anya, and Trowa, there was also Braydon, Cody, Sammy (Samantha), Sam(Samuel), Joe, Katie, Macy, Manny, Lisa, Mark, Tanner, Austin, Jeremy and Niles were a pair of Irish genius', Isabella (Izzy), Marina, Tucker, Jennifer, Stephaney, Sakura, Kaleb, Luis, Shawn, William, Anita, Shirley, Lindsay, Darren, Sasha, Shyla, Ryan, Sebastian, Tara, Sarah, Tessa (not to be confused with Braydon's sister), and Tanya.

"My head hurts a little now." said Lelouch sitting with Kallen, Shirley and Suzaku as everyone else went back to playing. "That's what? Thirty two, thirty three new names?"

"You haven't met the older kids and the in-laws yet." said Kallen smiling.

"Fantastic, I don't think I'm going to remember everyone here, let alone extended family." he admitted with a tiny smile. "No wonder this house is so big."

"There's sixty bedrooms total." said Shirley. "Thirty in the boy's wing, thirty in the girl's wing."

"Well, sixty one if you count Mr. Midnightstar's." said Suzaku.

"We even have a room for you Lelouch, for when you decide to come spend the night once in a while. Or like, when Leon goes on deployment." said Kallen.

"How long do his deployments last?" Lelouch asked.

"Anywhere from six to eight months." Shirley explained.

"That's a long time."

"I'm sure you could still stay home once in a while with Travis and Leon Ashtor." said Suzaku. "I know Kit wants to so he doesn't leave Mitch alone."

Suddenly there was a loud meow and a hiss as something grey pounced on Suzaku, biting his arm.

"Arthur!" Suzaku whined. "Will you ever stop chewing on me?"

"Come here Arthur." said Kallen, gently taking the cat from him.

"The cat's here? We brought the cat?" Lelouch sighed.

"He wouldn't let go of me." Suzaku muttered.

"Did he ever?"

"Good point."

"I have to admit, this place feels kind of weird." Lelouch said.

"Weird? In what way?" Shirley asked.

"I don't know, it just does." Lelouch shrugged. "If only because you and Euphie are alive."

"How she so casually forgave you for killing her is beyond me though." said Suzaku.

"Euphie was always like that. She never really cared what happened as long as someone smiled. I don't know."

"Was she really your sister?" Kallen asked.

"Half sister. But yeah, she was my sister too. I remember Nunnally and I used to love playing with her when we were little."

"So what changed?" Shirley asked.

"The world? Me? Everything I guess." he shrugged.

"Why do I get the feeling you were an angry little kid like Leon?" Shirley said with a tiny smile.

"Probably, I just didn't have the strength to punch through a brick wall when I was seven years old. Anyway, speaking of Euphie, where is she?" he asked looking around. "I noticed she's not out here."

"She went grocery shopping with Miss Sarah today. She'll be back in a couple of hours." Suzaku explained.

"Alright then." Lelouch muttered. Then he let out a sigh. "Why do I feel like I've gone insane?"

"You're not insane, just crazy." Shirley said cheerfully.

"I didn't know there was a difference." Suzaku said.

"Roderick once told me that crazy means you're on the edge of your rocker laughing cheerfully. Insane means you're completely off your rocker, sitting on the ground laughing your ass off from the fall." said Kallen with a smile. "Personally I think he's dangerously close to falling off."

"Most of us do." Lelouch agreed, smiling a little at the explanation. "Any other weird explanations from dear uncle Roddy?"

"He said that crazy means having one foot firmly planted in reality while the other is merrily splashing away in a bath of weirdness." Shirley said with a smile.

Everyone burst out laughing.

.

The four of them spent the rest of the sunny afternoon talking happily, as if nothing had ever happened back home in Britannian ruled Japan.

Even when Euphie pounced on Lelouch in a hug, surprising him enough to make him fall out of his seat everyone just laughed as if the world had always been this way for them.

Before long though they all went inside for lunch and Lelouch quickly felt comfortable within the large family between the familiar faces and the new loving siblings.

Even when they were all down the hall, playing with the paint for the progress wall Lelouch felt as if he had been a part of the family all along. He couldn't help but smile at his new spot on the wall next to Suzaku and Gino.

His background color was a bright blue and his measurement was at five feet eight inches tall. His picture was cheerful and happy and next to the frame was a yellow handprint.

After a couple hours of everyone playing, and Lelouch exploring a bit, it was time for dinner.

.

But unfortunately the visit was cut a little short as a nasty thunder storm blew in making them have to go home a little early, Suzaku staying at the Sanctuary and Kit going home with them.

.

Later that night Lelouch watched out his window as the rain poured, the wind howled and the lightning flashed, the thunder loud enough to shake the house.

"So what did you think of the family?" Aldair asked, sitting next to him.

"It's a wonderful family. I finally feel…….. Human, and very happy."

"Like you can let everything go." finished Aldair.

"Exactly."

"That's quite a storm out there."

"I know, it's like it's right on top of us." said Lelouch looking at the clock on his nightstand. "I wonder if everyone else managed to fall asleep."

"Well I'm sure Leon has. He's used to sleeping just a couple decks below the flight deck so that get's pretty noisy."

"I'm guess that's true." said Lelouch, looking out the window again. But just as he turned the entire sky lit up as lightning streaked across the sky right over the house making the thunder loud enough that the house shook and scared him, making him jump into his bed and hide under the blanket shaking.

"Don't tell me you're scared?" Aldair laughed, turning off the light and joining him.

"I don't know why. I mean…… I've been under fire plenty of times, but that just freaked me out!" Lelouch admitted, pulling the blanket off his head.

Aldair, gently touched noses with him. "There's nothing to be afraid of Lelouch, it won't hurt you here. It's just a storm."

"I know." Lelouch sighed, letting himself relax. But he tensed up suddenly when the knob to his bedroom door began to rattle, first just a tiny bit, then it began to rattle violently letting him know that it wasn't family trying to come into his room. "Aldair……..?" he squeaked softly. "I don't like this."

Suddenly his door swung open slowly, but there was no one in the doorway or anywhere in the hall in front of it.

"I know for a fact Mitch isn't the type to play jokes like this and neither are the Ashtor brothers, something else is doing this." Aldair whispered with a protective growl.

Lelouch slowly got up as another flash of lightning illuminated the room. He then tip toed to the door and looked out in the hallway.

"Mr. Ashtor? Mitch? Travis?" he whispered, hoping one of them would answer as Aldair came to stand beside him.

He looked from side to side, feeling fear well up inside him as he looked down the hall towards the stairs to Leon's office. There he saw a figure standing in front of the window. It was too short to be Mr. Ashtor or Travis. "Mitch?"

Another flash of lightning lit the hall, and Lelouch felt terrified.

Standing by the window wasn't anyone from the family. It was a very scary, evil looking soldier in a grey uniform, and covered in blood.

Lelouch quickly took off running down the hall till he found Leon's room, then he quietly peeked in to see Leon and Sahara with Mercy and Kit hiding under the blankets between them.

"Lelouch? What's wrong?" Leon asked with a yawn looking at him.

"What? The little one's got scared?" he asked, trying to put on a brave smile. But he knew it wasn't fooling Leon.

"And apparently you did as well, otherwise you wouldn't be in here." Leon said.

"I highly doubt lightning and thunder would scare you Lelouch." said Sahara kindly.

"It kinda did, but that wasn't what really bothered me." he admitted.

"Oh? Then what did?"

"Well first something was shaking the doorknob to my room really hard, then my door opened and no one was there. Aldair said Mitch and the Ashtor brother's aren't the type to play those kind of jokes so I went out in the hall to see if anyone was there, and I saw someone standing by the window down by the stairs to your office. I thought it was Mitch at first, and I kept calling his name, but he wouldn't answer, then when the lightning flashed, I saw that it was a very scary, very bloody man with a nasty grin so I ran in here instead of going back to my room." he replied, shaking a little. "I'm sorry. But I don't really want to go back to my room now."

"You saw the scary man too Louie?" Kit asked.

"Why didn't you say anything Kit?" Leon asked.

"Cause I wasn't sure if it was just me." Kit said shyly.

"Oh well, I suppose we have just enough room for one more." said Sahara with a smile.

"It's up to you Lelouch." shrugged Leon.

Lelouch quickly climbed into the bed between Kit and Mercy, before pulling the blanket over his head. But before long he began to feel comfortable and he then pulled the blanket off of his head.

"Goodnight Lelouch." said Sahara gently kissing his cheek.

"Goodnight Louie." said Kit smiling.

After everyone exchanged goodnights, Lelouch settled in as they all began to drift off to sleep and he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was.

'I'm finally home.' he thought contently, then he fell asleep as well.

.

.

.

Ginger: Yes! It's done! But fear not guys, if you really liked this story and it's characters enough, there's a sequel called 'A second chance to grow up'. The scary guy in the end will be explained there! So if you liked this go ahead and check it out. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you've like this one! Thanks to everyone for keeping going to the end! You're all so awesome!


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